WEBVTT
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Close your eyes and imagine.
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What if the things in life that caused us the greatest pain, the things that bring us grief, are challenges.
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Challenges designed to help us grow to ultimately become what we were always meant to be.
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We feel like we've been buried, but what if, like a seed, we've been planted?
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And having been planted, we grow to become a mighty tree.
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Now, open your eyes.
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Open your eyes to this way of viewing life.
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Come with me as we explore your true, infinite, eternal nature.
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This is Grief to Growth, and I am your host, Brian Smith.
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Hey there, welcome to Grief to Growth.
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I'm Brian Smith, and I'm glad you're here.
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Whether this is your first time joining us, or you've been walking this road with me for a while, I am really glad to have you here today.
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This show exists for the moments when life stops making sense.
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When you've lost someone or something that you don't know how to live without.
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We explore grief, we explore loss, and we ask the questions that don't have easy answers, like what happens after we die, and whether the love we share can survive the distance.
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My guests come from all different backgrounds, but they all share one thing.
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They've been through the fire, and they have something real to say about what they found on the other side.
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And Nick Prefontaine is no exception to that.
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Nick Prefontaine is living proof that the human spirit doesn't just survive, it runs.
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At 14 years old, Nick suffered a life threatening snowboarding accident that left his parents sitting in a hospital being told their son might never walk, talk, or eat on his own again.
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Less than 90 days later, he didn't just walk out of the hospital, he ran out of the hospital.
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But the physical recovery was only part of the story.
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Nick had to find his voice literally, rebuilding his ability to speak from the ground up.
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Today, Nick is a three-time bestselling author and nationally recognized speaker named one of the top motivational speakers by Yahoo Finance and the founder of Common Goal.
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He developed a step system, support, trust, energy, and persistence, not from a textbook, but from the inside of his own crisis.
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So in our conversation today, we're going to go deep into what it actually takes to come back from something that many people would think should end you, not the motivational poster version, the real thing.
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What does it feel like to wake up and not recognize the body you're living in?
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How does a 14-year-old find the will to fight when the adults in the room have already written the prognosis?
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And what does Nick now know about resilience, family, and the persistence of the human spirit that he couldn't have learned any other way?
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So if you're a season right now where you're not sure what you have what it takes to get back up, a grief or loss or a crisis has made you question everything you thought you were.
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This one's for you.
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And if you'd like to continue the conversation with me after the episode, head over to grief2growth.substack.com.
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You'll find an article there about today's discussion where you can comment and connect with me and other listeners.
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And with that, let's welcome Nick Prefontaine.
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How Brian so excited to be here.
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Thank you.
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Really glad to have you here today, Nick.
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Your story is just one of fits right in with my with the theme of my program, grief to growth, you know, going through the most difficult things in life and and coming back from this thing.
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So type me back to that time when you were 14 and you had your accident.
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Sure.
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Yeah, it was like any ski club day.
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We were excited ski club Wednesday.
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We always we always look forward to it.
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And we always had it.
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And actually, it's funny.
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My sister is raising a family right now in the same town that we grew up in.
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And she heard the kids a few years older than her kids, my niece and nephew talking about ski club Wednesday.
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And she's like, Oh, no, I know about ski club Wednesday.
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So yeah, it was a ski club Wednesday.
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And we had got released a little bit early from school.
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So that was always a big deal.
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For being 14 years old, missing any bit of school, even a little bit was a big deal.
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So my buddies and I all brought our snowboard gear onto the bus to get ready.
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So as not to miss a precious moment once we got to the mountain, and we got to the mountain, had a right for the chairlift with the rest of the class, they went inside and waste time getting ready.
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But we're all ready to go.
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So we had a right for the chairlift.
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And going up, we noticed that it was very icy, because it had been raining early in the day.
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So people were wiping out everywhere.
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And it wasn't slowing us down.
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Not in the least.
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And where the chair went over Brian was right over the terrain park, where all the jumps were like the jumps and rails and everything like that.
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So I knew as soon as I saw it, that I had to go off the biggest jump in the terrain park.
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So got this out buckled into my stoneboard took a breath of that crisp winter air and confidently charged towards that jump with all my speed and going up to the jump I caught the edge of my snowboard.
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And that was the last thing that I remember.
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So they wanted they actually wanted to bring a helicopter to the mountain to rush me to the hospital.
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And they couldn't, because it was too windy.
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So they had to send in an ambulance.
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And out of all the paramedics on staff, there was only one who could intimate right in the spot.
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And I needed that to be able to breathe.
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And I actually just learned a little while ago, that I thought he was only he, the coincidence was he was the right paramedic to show up in the mountain.
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It actually goes a little, a little, a level deeper than that.
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He was actually in the parking lot.
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When he got the call, quiz generally.
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So definitely a lot of things had to break right for me to hear today with you and your listeners to tell this story.
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Yeah, that was the main one.
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And then the I also learned something else I learned after the fact was that my goggles were the only protection that my head had.
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So the doctors, experts, eyewitness accounts, they told me that like friends and people who saw it, they told me that not only did my goggles, they were very thick with a lot of padding.
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I never would have found them that I would need them to brace my fall.
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But not only did they brace my initial fall, as I continue to roll down the mountain and continue to tip my head, they told me that the goggles moved to cushion each floor between my head and the ice.
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And probably the most consequential thing.
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When I got to the hospital, I mean, I was out, I was in a coma, partially induced coma in the intensive care unit.
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And the only people who are allowed into my room at that time, Brian, were my parents.
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So it was important at that time that the doctors they didn't they weren't doing anything, no fault of their own, but they just came into the room and came to show the prognosis with my parents right in front of me the not so good news, not so good news, they can't build people up with hope at that point.
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Liability reasons and everything like that.
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So right when they started to talk and share the news right in front of me, even though I was in a coma, my mom stopped them.
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And she said, No, not in front of him.
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So she knew that she understood that even though I was in a coma, I was still taking in information.
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So she made the doctors step outside the room.
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And then once they were there, that's when they said that I probably wouldn't be able to walk, talk or eat on my own ever again.
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So even even if I came out of the coma, there was a good chance that I only need 24 hour care for the rest of my life.
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And my parents, to their credit, didn't accept this like a death sentence, like so many patients do, they and their families.
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So they took the information, thanked the doctors and allowed me to treat it like any of the situation.
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So this was no different than any other challenge that I faced in my life.
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And because of that, I really didn't see the difference.
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So I ended up being in the coma, it was a partially induced coma for three weeks.
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I really don't remember a month because it was partially induced.
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And it was a month after my accident, I was transported to a rehab hospital in Boston.
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And that's where I kind of began my journey of having to learn how to walk, talk and eat again.
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And it was right at this point that really my memories start to come back, like I can start to remember things the beginning of March 2003.
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However, that month from February 5 to March 5 2003, that's gone.
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I have no memory or recollection of that.
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So that's gone.
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And it was right around this time that I started to unknowingly use a system to not only make a full recovery, and I'll actually let you know where the the goal of running out of the hospital comes from.
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And that's a step system.
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Step as an acronym, what I'll do is I'll give for you and your listeners, I'll give like a 10,000 foot view.
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And then if anyone's interested in learning more at the end, I can let them know how they can download step my ebook for free.
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And step stands for support.
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So make sure you have the support of your family and friends right from the beginning.
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And this is going to have you falling back on relationships that you built prior to your setback.
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T is an already talked about how my parents were, were my support in the beginning and throughout my recovery.
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And so trust that once you take your first step, your next steps always going to be available to you.
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And this also starts with trusting that voice that we all have inside of ourselves, but too many too much of the time we silence it, we push it down, or we we don't listen to it, we ignore it.
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So where that comes from is after I was transported, Brian to the rehab hospital.
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I can remember this was even before I could talk.
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So I can remember overhearing my parents talking with my team of doctors and therapists.
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And they were saying, Okay, what do we need to do to make sure Nick makes a full recovery?
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I heard in the back of my head, you're going to run out of the hospital.
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So then running out of the hospital became our common goal.
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And I think I just I just share that to illustrate the trust and why it's so important to listen to that, that that voice that you have inside of yourself.
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Yeah, he is energy.
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So maintain your energy allows your body's natural ability to be able to heal itself.
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And medication has the potential to get in the way of that.
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So I mean, obviously within reason here and energy continues to evolve throughout my life.
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And throughout anyone's life, it does.
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But at that point, it was my parents wanted to give me off of the medication as soon as possible.
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So unless it wasn't absolutely critical to my survival, they often not to have me on any medicine and medication.
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And then finally, P is persistence.
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So once you've taken your first step, keep getting up every day and taking your next step, no matter how small and by continuing to move forward every day, you are building an unstoppable momentum.
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So if you fast forward less than 60 days later, after being transported to the rehab hospital, I ran out of the hospital.
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And Brian, it wasn't like my work was done at that point.
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I it was it was just the beginning, if anything, it was just the starting line, really.
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I had to continue to go to outpatient therapy for the same things, physical, occupational and speech therapy for another six months, five days a week.
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And unlike when I was in inpatient rehab, which was double sessions, physical, occupational, speech therapy, five days a week, outpatient therapy is only what I say only, it was a single sessions, five days a week physical, occupational and speech therapy.
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So I also had to I mentioned, actually, I don't know if I mentioned this, the I was in eighth grade when I got in the accident.
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So I was only 14.
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And I, they gave me the option when I came home from the hospital to say, Oh, it's okay, you know, focus on your rehab, and you can take your time and get better.
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And just you can do eighth grade again next year.
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And I was like, I don't want to do that.
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That's something that's so terrible.
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So what I did, I continued for the rest of the year, this was the end of April to June, I continued to go to school, but I wasn't able to be with my classmates, I would get private tutored in school, and then I had to get private tutoring all summer long in order to continue on the high school with the rest of my classmates.
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And looking back at it, Brian, it's a little surreal that only 18 months later, I got because I'm sure you get this, and your listeners get this when your younger time is compressed.
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So if you're if you think like six months out, 12 months out, 18 months out, seems like a lifetime.
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Yeah.
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When you're younger.
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However, the older I get, I'm seeing it's really not that long.
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It's like a blink.
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So only 18 months later, after finishing my rehab, from my some morning accident and being in a coma, I got my start in real estate.
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And that was door knocking pre foreclosure doors or homeowners that have received the notice of default letter from the bank, meaning that they have missed several payments on their loan, the banks closed on the home.
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And I would go I would go to their door, go to door to door and try to set up meetings for one of our investors to meet with them the following week about potentially helping them out of their unfortunate situation.
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And it took Brian, it actually took a mentor pointing this out to me five years ago, that I realized it.
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And she said, Well, because it was so soon after your accident, this was a part of your recovery, going door to door, helping people out of their unfortunate situation.
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So I continue to do that throughout the rest of high school.
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And then when I graduated high school, I got my real started starting to get my real estate license.
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And then was helping buyers and sellers as a realtor like sales.
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Then my dad, my dad actually came to me, he approached me in 2014.
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And he was starting to buy homes again, creatively.
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So without using any of his money, or signing personally, or big investor down payments or money or anything like that.
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And then however, he was acquiring them.
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So I'm still I'm still involved in now this family family business call it buying and selling real estate.
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So I'll just give you like 10,000 foot view, some of the ways that we buy so we'll buy on a lease purchase.
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So basically a delayed cash sale, take over all response and responsibility for maintenance apparent upkeep.
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And then in the future, someday in the future, two, three or five years, we'll we'll cash it out.
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And another way is if that's not closing on it.
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And then another way if they have a an existing loan will actually close on its subject to that existing loan.
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And a third way just to keep it simple is if if a seller doesn't have any debt on the property, we can actually close on it and structure principal only payments back to the seller.
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However, we're buying it, we're always selling it on a rent to own.
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And that's where I kind of came into the picture because my dad approached me in 2014.
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And he was starting to accumulate all these properties.
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And he needed someone's help for getting them on the rent to own market.
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And looking for a rental buyer.
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So I originally at the end of 2014 started helping him with that just right alongside being a realtor.
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And what I found is over the next 13 months, my income totally shifted with him.
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I was making the majority of my money with him as an investor, because putting them on the rental market is different than listing them as a realtor.
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It's a different pool of buyers.
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So there's only roughly 18% of the market who can walk into a bank and get a loan.
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So we're marketing to the other bigger portion of buyers.
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Now, they're not all good.
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However, there's a large swath in there who they make great money.
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They have great incomes and they have money saved by down payment.
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They're just not for whatever reason able to walk into a bank and get a loan.
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So we're getting them into the home with the down payment anywhere from three to 10%.
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Getting them connected with credit enhancement, credit repair, and then getting them on the path to home ownership where there wouldn't be a path for them otherwise.
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So now it's in addition to our family business, now we also have associates all over the country who we help put in place the same systems, tools, and processes that have made us so successful and help them put that into their business.
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So I'm doing that and I'm also doing this work with Common Goal and working with individuals who are going through in the midst of their own challenge, trauma, life crisis, struggle, help number one get through it and then to be able to thrive with the rest of their lives.
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Awesome.
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That's awesome.
00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:31.089
So I want to take you back to your accident and you mentioned that the doctor said that you would never or possibly never be able to walk or talk or eat on your a couple of months later.
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I don't remember that.
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It was never something that was consciously, I was never told that.
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So your parents did not inform you of that?
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Yeah, that was what I think was important.
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Whether it would affect me or not, I think it would have.
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It was important that they kept that information from me.
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So obviously the doctors have to give the worst case scenario.
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They can't paint a rosy picture, viability, insurance, everything.
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They get sued nonstop if they were doing that.
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Yeah, so I didn't know of that.
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Your goal when you woke up was like, I'm going to fully recover.
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So what happened was when I came out of the coma and got my wits about me, got my senses back and everything, it was how it was presented to me was this happened.
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Yeah, this obviously it's not ideal, not what anyone wanted.
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But now we just have to, we got to do this work.
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And then so we can get back home and get back to living our life.
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That was always how it was presented to me.
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So I never even considered an alternative.
00:23:57.049 --> 00:24:01.089
It was just that's how it was presented.
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Yeah, I know you mentioned you were in a coma for a while.
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Do you remember leaving your body or anything like that?
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No, I get that question all the time.
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So as I'm sure you can imagine, yeah, no, it was it was interesting, because like I mentioned that period from February 5 to March 5 2003, that's for the most part, that's gone.
00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:35.000
I have no memories of that period.
00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:43.219
Yeah, I can't even yeah, I get nothing.
00:24:43.419 --> 00:24:47.439
And it's actually I think that's for a reason.
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.399
Like they didn't want me to, they didn't want me to remember that.
00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:57.099
So I think I'm fortunate that I don't have any memory of that time.
00:24:57.779 --> 00:24:57.879
Yeah.
00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:06.119
So that the the step process that you you came up with, that's just something that did your parents help you with that?
00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:07.879
Or did that just come from within you?
00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:09.939
Oh, all right.
00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:27.679
So I'll tell you exactly how it came about the Alright, so I was doing and I've been doing really, since I graduated from high school, because that that's kind of where we really, I kind of skipped ahead a bunch.
00:25:28.139 --> 00:25:35.819
But since I've graduated from high school, I vote no matter what I'm doing, for work and to earn a living never.
00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:37.779
It's never left me.
00:25:37.919 --> 00:25:41.979
I've always had this voice in the back of my head, Brian, it's saying always.
00:25:43.439 --> 00:25:44.199
Yeah, great, Nick.
00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:51.579
What you really need to be doing is telling your story from stage and helping trauma survivors thrive with the rest of their lives.
00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:59.839
So really, since we started holding events in 2016.
00:26:00.139 --> 00:26:04.159
And 2016 was when I let my real estate license go.
00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:13.679
I've usually had the opportunity to tell my story on stage our events for maybe 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there.
00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:21.039
And I always thought, okay, I'm that's me listening to that voice that that's me following that guidance.
00:26:21.919 --> 00:26:25.240
Kind of not really, though.
00:26:25.379 --> 00:26:29.259
So it took until 2019.
00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:33.459
Someone saw me speak at one of our events.
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:36.259
And her name was Sharon Spano.
00:26:36.659 --> 00:26:37.879
She approached me after.
00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:54.519
And she said, congratulated me and said I did a great job my talk, but said if I was ever looking to fine tune my message and bring it to another level, so I could help the most amount of people and have the most impact.
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.479
She could introduce me to a few coaches and mentors that have helped her along the way.
00:27:00.679 --> 00:27:04.319
Well, Brian, at this point, I wasn't ready yet.
00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:11.479
I was actually in the final throes of a voice issue that I had been dealing with since 2012.
00:27:11.479 --> 00:27:13.339
I developed it in 2012.
00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:18.799
It almost sounded like it was really hard for me to get the words out.
00:27:18.959 --> 00:27:21.479
I had a lot of tension in my throat.
00:27:21.679 --> 00:27:23.479
So I wasn't ready yet.
00:27:23.659 --> 00:27:28.899
And even when this woman when Sharon saw me speak, I was I was pretty strained.
00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:30.899
My voice was strained at that time.
00:27:31.179 --> 00:27:33.679
However, I was still able to get through it.
00:27:33.979 --> 00:27:38.479
So I wasn't ready yet to take her up on that offer.
00:27:39.479 --> 00:27:41.399
But I always held on to her card.
00:27:42.159 --> 00:27:45.579
And then after the voices after.
00:27:46.479 --> 00:27:49.799
So actually, we have a little bit of time I can I can tell you about it.
00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:50.179
Yeah.
00:27:50.179 --> 00:28:09.119
Yeah, the voice the voice issue I I started to get after looking everywhere for basically about a year from 2000 August of 2012 to the following year, I was looking for everywhere for an answer.
00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:12.579
I was going to my my primary care physician.
00:28:14.219 --> 00:28:21.719
All these different doctors and allergists, naturopathic doctor, no one could tell me what was wrong.
00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:24.219
I just knew something wasn't right.
00:28:24.439 --> 00:28:25.759
And I couldn't get an answer.
00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:42.419
Eventually, I wound up in a well, let me let me say this I on my own went to speech therapy again, because I figured I had to learn how to talk to him once I couldn't help I can I do it again.
00:28:42.419 --> 00:28:45.059
So I went on my own.
00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:48.059
And for six months, I was going.
00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:53.379
I mean, every every week, every other week, or multiple times a week.
00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:57.439
And then I was doing all the voice exercises that they said.
00:28:57.579 --> 00:29:04.959
And nothing was really it gave me strategies and tips and hints for dealing with the voice issue, but nothing was really fixing it.
00:29:05.719 --> 00:29:21.240
So after I had kind of exhausted that, in May or June of 2013, they referred me and said I should go to a voice specialist in Boston.
00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:25.719
So I had an appointment with him in August 2013.
00:29:26.339 --> 00:29:32.639
And after looking for almost a year, like looking for an answer, no one could tell me what was going on.
00:29:32.979 --> 00:29:37.240
Yeah, I was amazed when I had an appointment with this voice specialist in Boston.
00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.799
And they're only like 35 of these people in the whole country.
00:29:40.959 --> 00:29:48.479
So this guy walked in the room and heard me speak and right away, not so he goes all that.
00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:50.819
Yeah, we deal with that all the time.
00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:57.299
We'll get no time go west to the front desk and schedule Botox injection a couple weeks.
00:29:57.939 --> 00:30:00.839
So I was like, my mouth hit the floor.
00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:02.379
I was I couldn't believe it.
00:30:02.459 --> 00:30:05.639
I felt so so I felt like peace.
00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:08.000
I felt so at ease.
00:30:08.199 --> 00:30:15.259
Because here this guy was he, like he was an expert at fixing this, he knew what I was doing, no one could give me an answer.
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:24.459
So I started to get in August of 2013, I started to get Botox injections into my vocal folds.
00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:33.479
And I had to get them several times a year, two, three, four times a year to relieve the tension.
00:30:33.899 --> 00:30:54.479
And then when my voice was coming back, I worked with their higher level voice therapist speech pathologist to kind of retrain my I wasn't quite ready yet, to take her up on that offer.
00:30:55.199 --> 00:31:00.619
That is all like, all right, I want to like explore speaking and seeing if I can help more people.
00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:05.139
However, I always hung on to her card.
00:31:05.459 --> 00:31:11.419
And it took until May of 2021, after the voice issue had worked its way out of my system.
00:31:12.419 --> 00:31:14.799
I don't need Botox injections anymore.
00:31:14.979 --> 00:31:18.679
The last one I got was February 13 of 2020.
00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:23.339
So I don't definitely don't need those anymore.
00:31:24.219 --> 00:31:27.279
I'm able to may be able to speak with you here with you and your listeners.
00:31:27.719 --> 00:31:34.199
So I finally reached out to her May of 2021 said, Okay, I'm ready.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:35.240
What should I do?
00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:36.199
Who should I talk to?
00:31:36.719 --> 00:31:40.819
She introduced me to her mentor, Tricia Brooke.
00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:50.299
And part of the reason why I wanted to I wanted to explore this was because that voice that I talked about it just wouldn't go away.
00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:54.199
Nothing I did would would appease it.
00:31:54.679 --> 00:31:56.079
It just stayed with me.
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:57.799
So I finally I reached out to her.
00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:02.719
And she introduced me to her mentor Tricia Brooke.
00:32:02.899 --> 00:32:09.819
And on that first call with Tricia there, since that first call, there's been no voice in the back of my head.
00:32:10.339 --> 00:32:16.240
So she told me I share my goals and my story what I was looking to do.
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:25.079
She told me I should do the speaker salon, which is you get to be on stage at the Triad Theater in New York City for six weeks in a row.
00:32:25.959 --> 00:32:28.379
And that was in the fall of 2021.
00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:30.339
That was 25,000.
00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:42.259
I said yes, because I I had to I had to I had to like satisfy this voice I had to I had to listen to it.
00:32:42.419 --> 00:32:48.279
I just I wasn't going to live the rest of my life without exploring this.
00:32:48.459 --> 00:32:50.159
So I did it.
00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:56.179
And then during the speaker salon, Tricia pitched the idea of what it would look like to work with her one on one.
00:32:56.639 --> 00:33:02.299
She told me that she specializes in in working with speakers to build out their speaker platform.
00:33:04.659 --> 00:33:07.240
Didn't even know what that was at the time.
00:33:08.219 --> 00:33:10.639
She said that's 75,000.
00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:15.740
I said, Hmm, I don't have that in my back pocket.
00:33:16.379 --> 00:33:20.399
So I said, Give me a week and I'll figure it out.
00:33:20.639 --> 00:33:22.559
And I went and applied for financing.
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:24.039
I was approved.
00:33:25.159 --> 00:33:27.339
And six days later, I sent her the money.
00:33:27.959 --> 00:33:31.019
And it was the best decision that I've ever made.
00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:35.319
Because without it now, she was one that helped me launch common goal.
00:33:36.099 --> 00:33:41.559
Before her I maybe I'd spoke for 10 or 15 minutes here or there.
00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:53.339
Now I give keynotes to brain injury 45 and 60 minute keynotes to brain injury associations and other organizations that support individuals that are going through trauma.
00:33:54.459 --> 00:33:58.779
Also, a big part of that is like speaking with you and your audience today.
00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:08.079
So she was the one isn't really long answer your question, but she was the one that was able to pull the step system out of me.
00:34:08.199 --> 00:34:12.039
Okay, so I only had a limited number of calls with her.
00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:20.000
And on our very first call, she said to me, All right, so you have this amazing story.
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:24.920
You run a snowboarding accident, your parents are told you wouldn't walk, talk or eat again.
00:34:25.500 --> 00:34:26.880
Then you ran out of the hospital.
00:34:27.139 --> 00:34:27.860
How'd you do it?
00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:31.199
I said, I don't know.
00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:34.119
I just got up every day and did the best I could.
00:34:34.280 --> 00:34:35.480
I kept working every day.
00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:38.519
And she kind of leaned in.
00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:39.340
It was on a virtual.
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:41.199
It was like this, we could see each other.
00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:42.619
So no, a little bit.
00:34:42.740 --> 00:34:46.639
She goes, no, not good enough.
00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:49.400
How did you do it?
00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:53.559
And she kept asking me to the point where I was very frustrated with her.
00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:55.079
I think that was our first call.
00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:56.960
I may have ended that call early.
00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:57.559
Yeah.
00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:06.820
And I'm just so happy, Brian, that we went through that process because she was able to pull the step system out of me.
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:20.539
So the step system is just the way it's really the way I was raised to deal with any kind of life challenge, difficulty, anything that's thrown my way during life.
00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:25.719
And that that's what the step system is.
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:34.599
So Trisha was able to, thank goodness, I went through that process with her and I worked one on one with her, pulled the step system out of me.
00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:39.880
And now I get to share with the world and help more and more people because of it.
00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:40.539
Yeah.
00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:46.659
So that voice that you hear in the back of your head, what do you think that voice is?
00:35:48.780 --> 00:35:57.820
To me, the more I learn, the more I learn about spirituality and I think it's God.
00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:03.039
I couldn't articulate it at that time.
00:36:03.219 --> 00:36:07.219
I mean, even five to seven years ago, I couldn't articulate it.
00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:12.500
That's what it was, but that's what it is.
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:18.480
But that's exactly what I've come to learn.
00:36:18.740 --> 00:36:29.380
Yeah, that's God, the universe, whatever you want to call it, that higher power other than us out there, that's who that is.
00:36:30.120 --> 00:36:30.220
Yeah.
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:35.740
And so you mentioned during the time of your accident that the right paramedic just happened to be in the parking lot.
00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:38.400
Do you believe that that was orchestrated?
00:36:39.220 --> 00:36:39.740
Absolutely.
00:36:41.180 --> 00:36:47.420
There were so many things that had to break just the right way for me to be, for me to be here today.
00:36:47.420 --> 00:36:47.880
Yeah.
00:36:48.980 --> 00:36:49.079
Yeah.
00:36:50.620 --> 00:36:53.480
A thousand, I was going to say a hundred percent, but a thousand percent.
00:36:54.059 --> 00:36:55.160
Um, absolutely.
00:36:55.320 --> 00:37:09.440
So the right paramedic, um, my goggles, cushioning my blow, and then my parents kind of shielding me from the, um, the doctor's prognosis, um, all those things had to break it.
00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:14.360
Who knows if I'd be here today, if any one of those things didn't break that exact way.
00:37:14.700 --> 00:37:15.140
Yeah.
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:25.079
So, you know, we, we all, people go through difficult times, especially people listening to this broadcast, uh, today we, cause that's why that's what brings people to grief to growth.
00:37:25.240 --> 00:37:28.000
They've, they've gone through something or they're going through something difficult.
00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:31.960
Um, what do you, well, you already talked about that.
00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:40.760
You, you believe that this, this was maybe somehow, um, preordained or whatever, but what, what is it that keeps you going?
00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:47.920
That keeps you, I mean, as you were going through, I mean, I could imagine at 14 years old, were you, what was your feeling at the time?
00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:48.620
Were you depressed?
00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:49.720
Were you angry?
00:37:50.059 --> 00:37:51.500
What were you going through emotionally?
00:37:54.670 --> 00:38:04.690
So, uh, like I shared previously, it was, um, never, it was never presented to me any other way that I had a choice in the matter.
00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:08.030
It was just, okay, this happened.
00:38:08.349 --> 00:38:13.950
Now we gotta like, we gotta do the best we can with the therapy, with the work, with the doctors.
00:38:14.590 --> 00:38:18.090
Like I would get extra, I would ask for extra exercises.
00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:21.590
I would share my goal of running out of the hospital with all my therapists.
00:38:21.690 --> 00:38:23.530
So everyone was on the same page.
00:38:24.570 --> 00:38:27.150
Um, and then we gotta get back home.
00:38:27.450 --> 00:38:31.050
And that was always just the natural progression.
00:38:31.349 --> 00:38:34.349
It was never, um, presented to me.
00:38:34.530 --> 00:38:34.809
Okay.
00:38:35.610 --> 00:38:37.490
Uh, do you feel like getting up today?
00:38:37.690 --> 00:38:41.370
It was, uh, it was, uh, it was presented a different way.
00:38:41.490 --> 00:38:44.930
However, I can tell you though, um, I am human.
00:38:44.990 --> 00:38:51.230
So there was a moment of doubt that I had in the only really credit to my parents.
00:38:51.530 --> 00:39:05.730
The only moment of doubt that I, I can really remember when I was in, when I was in the hospital and that was, I got up, I had my physical therapists teach.
00:39:05.910 --> 00:39:06.809
We had a shower again.
00:39:07.289 --> 00:39:09.090
I mean, if you can picture that.
00:39:10.950 --> 00:39:16.289
So then I would have breakfast and start my morning therapy, physical occupational speech therapy.
00:39:17.510 --> 00:39:21.390
And it was at one of those launches that a moment of doubt crept in.
00:39:22.370 --> 00:39:32.730
I can remember Brian at the time I was in a wheelchair and I remember just looking over my situation and just being in the wheelchair and I just couldn't figure it out.
00:39:33.470 --> 00:39:40.710
I can remember turning to my mom who was with me during the day every day, uh, my mom and her parents that, that was my support.
00:39:40.710 --> 00:39:42.650
And that's what I talked about within step.
00:39:43.809 --> 00:39:49.110
Um, and just saying, mom, am I ever going to be able to walk in?
00:39:50.890 --> 00:39:52.570
And she said, of course you are.
00:39:52.650 --> 00:39:53.590
That's what we're doing here.
00:39:53.670 --> 00:39:55.450
So you can get everything back and we can go home.
00:39:56.870 --> 00:40:04.010
So this step allowed me to take, continue to go and take that next step and just do what was in front of me.
00:40:04.690 --> 00:40:12.070
Um, and I think that's so important because when you're going through, it doesn't matter what you go through.
00:40:12.210 --> 00:40:16.849
I even have one of those moments, probably a few of those moments during my voice challenge.
00:40:17.010 --> 00:40:30.910
And if you think of it, the accident, uh, my accent being in the corner for a month and then less than two months being an inpatient, uh, rehab in Boston, that was a blink.
00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:38.150
Um, it didn't feel like a blank at that time slows down when you're going through something.
00:40:38.150 --> 00:40:39.990
It felt like an eternity.
00:40:40.670 --> 00:40:52.670
However, then when I had to overcome the voice issue, if you think of it, I developed in 2012, I had my last Botox injection in 2020.
00:40:53.789 --> 00:41:00.809
I was still dealing with it throughout the rest of the year, like figuring out, is this like, do I need to get another call to get another injection or whatever?
00:41:01.030 --> 00:41:03.130
So I had doubts throughout that time.
00:41:03.289 --> 00:41:12.630
I think I'm more proud of that, um, that I am my accent because maybe I have recency bias, but, um, there was doubts.
00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:13.110
Yeah.
00:41:13.230 --> 00:41:18.070
There was frustrations and I kinda, I just wrote about this in my newsletter.
00:41:18.289 --> 00:41:22.390
It just came out last week is during 2019.
00:41:23.530 --> 00:41:30.530
I think that was the time that, uh, that was probably my hardest year.
00:41:30.530 --> 00:42:02.650
Uh, however, I think that was, uh, the best year for me just because my resolve, my, um, my attitude, everything was tested to, I got to a point, um, in 2019 where I said, you know what, as long as I'm seeing progress, every time I get to, I have to go and get another Botox injection, as long as I'm seeing progress and the doctor is still telling me, wow, you're a little better than you were last time.
00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:06.010
I'm going to keep working every day.
00:42:06.530 --> 00:42:08.410
Uh, and I'm going to keep doing my exercises.
00:42:08.710 --> 00:42:10.630
I'm going to keep doing my natural therapies.
00:42:11.070 --> 00:42:13.230
Uh, remember when I said energy has evolved.
00:42:13.610 --> 00:42:19.390
So, um, I, I do, and I still do to this day, natural, uh, therapy.
00:42:19.530 --> 00:42:29.390
So twee knots, like Chinese body work once every five weeks and then myofascial release once every five weeks, I do those two things to help keep my energy in tune.
00:42:30.250 --> 00:42:34.769
So in my mind in 2019, I'm like, I'm going to keep doing my voice exercise.
00:42:34.890 --> 00:42:40.250
I'm going to keep doing these natural treatments and I want to keep getting these Botox injections.
00:42:40.309 --> 00:42:49.190
As long as I'm still seeing progress, as small as it can be, as long as I'm still seeing it, I'm not, there is no give up.
00:42:49.570 --> 00:42:52.789
I'm going to keep trying and keep working at this.
00:42:53.110 --> 00:43:05.030
And it's funny because, um, I had to get one in 2019 in November, actually after I ran a, uh, half marathon.
00:43:06.269 --> 00:43:12.870
Um, and I think it was actually right before I ran a half marathon.
00:43:13.030 --> 00:43:17.269
So I think it, that drain me and, and used up the Botox, if you will.
00:43:18.110 --> 00:43:25.550
Um, and then I was bummed out that I had to get another one, um, and call and get on the schedule in January of 2020.
00:43:26.050 --> 00:43:30.349
And it's, it's ironic because that was the last one that I ever needed.
00:43:30.930 --> 00:43:33.990
And I just got to that point where I say, you know what?
00:43:34.910 --> 00:43:35.750
Forget everything.
00:43:35.910 --> 00:43:39.110
I'm going to keep working at this because I keep seeing progress.
00:43:39.110 --> 00:43:40.750
And that was the last one I needed.
00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:41.530
Yeah.
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:43.450
So that's the persistence piece of it, right?
00:43:43.550 --> 00:43:46.070
It's just, keeping, keeping going.
00:43:46.910 --> 00:43:50.750
So it's, have you, have you made a full physical recover from your accident?
00:43:50.910 --> 00:43:52.809
I mean, you, you mentioned running half marathons.
00:43:52.950 --> 00:43:54.050
Were you able to go back and ski?
00:43:55.490 --> 00:43:57.570
Uh, yes, I have.
00:43:58.150 --> 00:44:02.849
Um, I did some board after, um, however, I made my mom cry.
00:44:03.410 --> 00:44:07.590
Um, so it was, it was the year after my accident.
00:44:08.329 --> 00:44:18.090
Um, I was, because before my accident, I was a snowboard instructor at the local Hill and I somehow, I don't know how I did it.
00:44:18.390 --> 00:44:27.230
I convinced my parents that it was a good idea for me to be around it and be around the, you know, my friends and the snowboarding and just help out at the mountain.
00:44:27.230 --> 00:44:37.829
Well, obviously temptation proved too much and ended up borrowing, uh, my friend's snowboards without their knowledge and, uh, snowboarding.
00:44:38.530 --> 00:44:41.490
And once my friends saw I could snowboard, they're like, Oh, Nick's back.
00:44:42.309 --> 00:44:51.750
So, um, I did this for a few weeks and then my mom somehow found out and, uh, I came home that day and she was crying.
00:44:52.370 --> 00:44:56.769
Um, so, I mean, you never, no one ever wants to make their mom cry.
00:44:57.070 --> 00:45:00.630
So I, I haven't done it since that time.
00:45:00.730 --> 00:45:03.849
I think it was more just to prove to myself, Brian, that I could do it.
00:45:04.550 --> 00:45:13.110
Um, I take that same, uh, drive focus and, uh, energy and apply it to other areas of my life.
00:45:13.110 --> 00:45:16.970
Like I said, I, I've, um, done a lot of running.
00:45:17.150 --> 00:45:30.170
I've done a couple half marathons, um, 2015, 2019, uh, 10 marries in 2016 and more recently a 10 K in 2022.
00:45:30.410 --> 00:45:37.309
So, uh, yeah, I'm, um, I have made a, uh, a full recovery if you will.
00:45:37.430 --> 00:45:37.849
Yeah.
00:45:38.210 --> 00:45:38.390
Awesome.
00:45:38.849 --> 00:45:40.750
So Nick, Nick, tell me about common goal.
00:45:42.450 --> 00:46:14.269
So common goal is, uh, and I, I kind of breezed over this a little bit is, um, really my company is really what I've been doing naturally, uh, my whole life is that whenever someone is in any kind of trouble with a life challenge, um, like a bunch of people that, uh, were unfortunately abused, um, any kind of a health challenge, any, like any crisis is, um, getting with them, helping them to get through it.
00:46:14.269 --> 00:46:17.269
And then so that they can thrive with the rest of their lives.
00:46:17.750 --> 00:46:23.550
So, um, I've done some speaking for brain injury associations at their annual conferences.
00:46:24.210 --> 00:46:28.769
I've done some webinars for them, uh, like the brain injury association of America.
00:46:29.450 --> 00:46:34.070
Um, and, uh, it's really, that's what it is.
00:46:34.110 --> 00:46:38.470
It's the company that, uh, my mentor Tricia helped me start.
00:46:38.690 --> 00:46:44.710
So before I was working with Tricia, the step system, common goal, this was just all something that was in my head.
00:46:46.130 --> 00:46:54.510
I, I didn't, um, I wasn't able to get it out into the world and be able to talk about it like I am with you today.
00:46:54.870 --> 00:47:04.390
So, um, now I have the, uh, step, the ebook, which I think now is the perfect time to give the listeners way that they can get that.
00:47:04.650 --> 00:47:09.730
So, um, what I went over is just a 10,000 foot view of the step system.
00:47:09.730 --> 00:47:21.930
But if you go to nickprefontaine.com forward slash step, you can download the whole step system for free and learn about all about support, trust, energy, and persistence.
00:47:23.090 --> 00:47:31.050
Um, so yeah, common goal is just by company that, uh, helped me launch a website, helped me get this ebook going.
00:47:32.070 --> 00:47:40.450
And also it's the other, like the other speaking and talks I've done, like I did a really cool talk a couple of years ago in New York city.
00:47:40.550 --> 00:47:44.570
It's called my introduction to stillness was a coma.
00:47:45.870 --> 00:47:54.930
Um, so what that is, obviously I talk about my accent, but that's, um, that was really how I was introduced to meditation.
00:47:55.710 --> 00:48:03.809
Um, and I think now meditation, remember how I said, um, the E in the step system energy continues to evolve.
00:48:04.269 --> 00:48:11.370
So the beginning of the onset of a traumatic event, the most important thing is to get off the medication as soon as possible.
00:48:11.809 --> 00:48:23.690
However, today, if you fast forward to present day, um, that's like, I meditate, uh, three to four times a week, anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, meditating and do Qi Gong.
00:48:24.210 --> 00:48:28.050
Um, also, uh, like I shared, I get those natural treatments.
00:48:28.050 --> 00:48:30.349
So that's what energy is to me today.
00:48:30.890 --> 00:48:30.990
Okay.
00:48:32.170 --> 00:48:47.950
So yeah, it's just, um, it's just trying to inspire and help more people to get through, give them a framework that's going to help them get through, um, whatever their challenges and be able to thrive with the rest of the life, uh, lives like I have.
00:48:48.130 --> 00:48:48.610
Yeah.
00:48:48.890 --> 00:48:52.110
So people can find out about common goal by going to your website.
00:48:52.269 --> 00:48:52.630
I assume.
00:48:53.190 --> 00:48:53.490
Yeah.
00:48:53.650 --> 00:49:02.930
Um, so if you go to Nick pre fontaine.com, you'll, I mean, to get the ebook, you can get it right on the homepage, but, uh, it directors forward slash step.
00:49:03.550 --> 00:49:09.630
Um, however, you'll also find on there, several of the talks I've done that are in that realm.
00:49:10.030 --> 00:49:16.870
Like, um, my introduction is telling this was a coma is all about meditation and how to incorporate that into your life.
00:49:17.769 --> 00:49:22.030
And, um, then you can download the, um, download step, the ebook.
00:49:22.030 --> 00:49:29.110
And then the only product I have right now, Brian is the, um, the step video series.
00:49:29.470 --> 00:49:46.750
So, um, that's the next best thing to working with me one-on-one is, um, I actually take you through, each letter and help you identify with your own workbook for each letter support, trust, energy, and persistence.
00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:59.110
So I help you identify, uh, what, who your support is, um, what is the evidence that you have to trust, um, how you can focus on your energy and persist finally P persistence.
00:49:59.210 --> 00:50:04.470
As long as you're doing those three before, um, you can continue to move forward every day.
00:50:05.050 --> 00:50:06.930
Um, build that unstoppable momentum.
00:50:07.130 --> 00:50:18.090
So that's the only product I have, uh, right now it's $37, but, um, it's really the next best thing to work with me one-on-one and I encourage anyone to pick it up.
00:50:18.630 --> 00:50:18.730
Yeah.
00:50:19.070 --> 00:50:20.849
And people can work with you one-on-one as well.
00:50:21.309 --> 00:50:22.130
Yeah, absolutely.
00:50:22.329 --> 00:50:23.930
They can reach out through the website for sure.
00:50:24.470 --> 00:50:24.570
Yeah.
00:50:25.349 --> 00:50:29.110
Well, um, Nick, anything that I didn't ask you that you wanted to get across today?
00:50:29.890 --> 00:50:30.329
Yeah.
00:50:30.590 --> 00:50:35.370
Um, I mentioned, I almost forgot I mentioned because I don't, I just treat it naturally.
00:50:35.610 --> 00:50:42.190
So if it comes up like, um, the other, like the real estate portion of my story, I can't hide it.
00:50:42.309 --> 00:50:43.210
It's who I am.
00:50:43.329 --> 00:50:45.970
And like what I do and everything, that's part of my story.
00:50:46.450 --> 00:50:46.610
Right.
00:50:47.289 --> 00:50:54.610
However, so the real estate portion, if anything that I mentioned, uh, real estate related was of interest to you.
00:50:54.950 --> 00:51:00.910
And, um, like how we're buying and selling homes creatively without using any of our cash or credit.
00:51:01.769 --> 00:51:08.630
Um, you can go to our website, smart real estate, codes.com forward slash master's class.
00:51:08.630 --> 00:51:11.430
And there you can get registered for a free master's class.
00:51:11.430 --> 00:51:17.390
That's going to teach you all about how we buy and sell on terms is what we like to call it.
00:51:17.610 --> 00:51:22.050
Um, and then at the end, if you're interested in learning more, you'll be able to take your first step.
00:51:22.730 --> 00:51:23.130
Okay.
00:51:23.630 --> 00:51:23.730
Awesome.
00:51:24.309 --> 00:51:24.470
Awesome.
00:51:24.690 --> 00:51:27.550
Well, Nick, thanks so much for being here today and for being such an inspiration.
00:51:29.030 --> 00:51:29.710
Oh, you're welcome.
00:51:29.930 --> 00:51:31.490
Thank you for having me.
00:51:31.490 --> 00:51:32.329
All right.
00:51:32.370 --> 00:51:33.530
Have a great rest of your day.
00:52:03.840 --> 00:52:03.940
Bye.
00:01:15.609 --> 00:01:17.409
Close your eyes and imagine.
00:01:18.890 --> 00:01:24.829
What if the things in life that caused us the greatest pain, the things that bring us grief, are challenges.
00:01:26.510 --> 00:01:31.469
Challenges designed to help us grow to ultimately become what we were always meant to be.
00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:37.490
We feel like we've been buried, but what if, like a seed, we've been planted?
00:01:38.629 --> 00:01:42.049
And having been planted, we grow to become a mighty tree.
00:01:43.129 --> 00:01:45.250
Now, open your eyes.
00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:47.750
Open your eyes to this way of viewing life.
00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:52.990
Come with me as we explore your true, infinite, eternal nature.
00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:58.250
This is Grief to Growth, and I am your host, Brian Smith.
00:02:00.030 --> 00:02:01.390
Hey there, welcome to Grief to Growth.
00:02:01.490 --> 00:02:03.109
I'm Brian Smith, and I'm glad you're here.
00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:08.949
Whether this is your first time joining us, or you've been walking this road with me for a while, I am really glad to have you here today.
00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:12.490
This show exists for the moments when life stops making sense.
00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:16.110
When you've lost someone or something that you don't know how to live without.
00:02:16.569 --> 00:02:25.909
We explore grief, we explore loss, and we ask the questions that don't have easy answers, like what happens after we die, and whether the love we share can survive the distance.
00:02:26.650 --> 00:02:30.030
My guests come from all different backgrounds, but they all share one thing.
00:02:30.469 --> 00:02:34.569
They've been through the fire, and they have something real to say about what they found on the other side.
00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:37.310
And Nick Prefontaine is no exception to that.
00:02:37.969 --> 00:02:42.650
Nick Prefontaine is living proof that the human spirit doesn't just survive, it runs.
00:02:43.430 --> 00:02:53.170
At 14 years old, Nick suffered a life threatening snowboarding accident that left his parents sitting in a hospital being told their son might never walk, talk, or eat on his own again.
00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:58.090
Less than 90 days later, he didn't just walk out of the hospital, he ran out of the hospital.
00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:00.909
But the physical recovery was only part of the story.
00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:05.870
Nick had to find his voice literally, rebuilding his ability to speak from the ground up.
00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:17.250
Today, Nick is a three-time bestselling author and nationally recognized speaker named one of the top motivational speakers by Yahoo Finance and the founder of Common Goal.
00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:26.169
He developed a step system, support, trust, energy, and persistence, not from a textbook, but from the inside of his own crisis.
00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:36.349
So in our conversation today, we're going to go deep into what it actually takes to come back from something that many people would think should end you, not the motivational poster version, the real thing.
00:03:37.009 --> 00:03:40.409
What does it feel like to wake up and not recognize the body you're living in?
00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:45.949
How does a 14-year-old find the will to fight when the adults in the room have already written the prognosis?
00:03:46.629 --> 00:03:53.550
And what does Nick now know about resilience, family, and the persistence of the human spirit that he couldn't have learned any other way?
00:03:54.270 --> 00:04:03.050
So if you're a season right now where you're not sure what you have what it takes to get back up, a grief or loss or a crisis has made you question everything you thought you were.
00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:04.430
This one's for you.
00:04:05.030 --> 00:04:11.009
And if you'd like to continue the conversation with me after the episode, head over to grief2growth.substack.com.
00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:16.289
You'll find an article there about today's discussion where you can comment and connect with me and other listeners.
00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:18.949
And with that, let's welcome Nick Prefontaine.
00:04:20.529 --> 00:04:22.710
How Brian so excited to be here.
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Thank you.
00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:26.210
Really glad to have you here today, Nick.
00:04:26.210 --> 00:04:36.769
Your story is just one of fits right in with my with the theme of my program, grief to growth, you know, going through the most difficult things in life and and coming back from this thing.
00:04:36.990 --> 00:04:40.330
So type me back to that time when you were 14 and you had your accident.
00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:41.789
Sure.
00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:46.389
Yeah, it was like any ski club day.
00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:50.069
We were excited ski club Wednesday.
00:04:51.050 --> 00:04:52.870
We always we always look forward to it.
00:04:53.210 --> 00:04:54.789
And we always had it.
00:04:55.050 --> 00:04:56.430
And actually, it's funny.
00:04:57.389 --> 00:05:02.430
My sister is raising a family right now in the same town that we grew up in.
00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:08.449
And she heard the kids a few years older than her kids, my niece and nephew talking about ski club Wednesday.
00:05:08.850 --> 00:05:11.710
And she's like, Oh, no, I know about ski club Wednesday.
00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:15.129
So yeah, it was a ski club Wednesday.
00:05:15.649 --> 00:05:19.210
And we had got released a little bit early from school.
00:05:19.210 --> 00:05:21.909
So that was always a big deal.
00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:28.129
For being 14 years old, missing any bit of school, even a little bit was a big deal.
00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:34.928
So my buddies and I all brought our snowboard gear onto the bus to get ready.
00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:47.450
So as not to miss a precious moment once we got to the mountain, and we got to the mountain, had a right for the chairlift with the rest of the class, they went inside and waste time getting ready.
00:05:47.610 --> 00:05:48.690
But we're all ready to go.
00:05:49.110 --> 00:05:51.190
So we had a right for the chairlift.
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And going up, we noticed that it was very icy, because it had been raining early in the day.
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So people were wiping out everywhere.
00:06:02.029 --> 00:06:04.850
And it wasn't slowing us down.
00:06:05.129 --> 00:06:06.169
Not in the least.
00:06:06.629 --> 00:06:15.169
And where the chair went over Brian was right over the terrain park, where all the jumps were like the jumps and rails and everything like that.
00:06:15.590 --> 00:06:21.649
So I knew as soon as I saw it, that I had to go off the biggest jump in the terrain park.
00:06:22.210 --> 00:06:34.690
So got this out buckled into my stoneboard took a breath of that crisp winter air and confidently charged towards that jump with all my speed and going up to the jump I caught the edge of my snowboard.
00:06:35.289 --> 00:06:37.190
And that was the last thing that I remember.
00:06:39.690 --> 00:06:45.330
So they wanted they actually wanted to bring a helicopter to the mountain to rush me to the hospital.
00:06:46.190 --> 00:06:49.710
And they couldn't, because it was too windy.
00:06:49.710 --> 00:06:51.769
So they had to send in an ambulance.
00:06:52.049 --> 00:07:00.669
And out of all the paramedics on staff, there was only one who could intimate right in the spot.
00:07:00.669 --> 00:07:02.809
And I needed that to be able to breathe.
00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:13.049
And I actually just learned a little while ago, that I thought he was only he, the coincidence was he was the right paramedic to show up in the mountain.
00:07:14.070 --> 00:07:17.570
It actually goes a little, a little, a level deeper than that.
00:07:17.789 --> 00:07:21.129
He was actually in the parking lot.
00:07:22.450 --> 00:07:24.250
When he got the call, quiz generally.
00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:33.190
So definitely a lot of things had to break right for me to hear today with you and your listeners to tell this story.
00:07:33.929 --> 00:07:35.710
Yeah, that was the main one.
00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:44.129
And then the I also learned something else I learned after the fact was that my goggles were the only protection that my head had.
00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:56.470
So the doctors, experts, eyewitness accounts, they told me that like friends and people who saw it, they told me that not only did my goggles, they were very thick with a lot of padding.
00:07:57.629 --> 00:08:00.190
I never would have found them that I would need them to brace my fall.
00:08:00.309 --> 00:08:15.409
But not only did they brace my initial fall, as I continue to roll down the mountain and continue to tip my head, they told me that the goggles moved to cushion each floor between my head and the ice.
00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:19.990
And probably the most consequential thing.
00:08:20.830 --> 00:08:29.529
When I got to the hospital, I mean, I was out, I was in a coma, partially induced coma in the intensive care unit.
00:08:30.690 --> 00:08:36.090
And the only people who are allowed into my room at that time, Brian, were my parents.
00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:56.809
So it was important at that time that the doctors they didn't they weren't doing anything, no fault of their own, but they just came into the room and came to show the prognosis with my parents right in front of me the not so good news, not so good news, they can't build people up with hope at that point.
00:08:57.769 --> 00:08:59.590
Liability reasons and everything like that.
00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:07.110
So right when they started to talk and share the news right in front of me, even though I was in a coma, my mom stopped them.
00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:08.970
And she said, No, not in front of him.
00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:16.509
So she knew that she understood that even though I was in a coma, I was still taking in information.
00:09:17.110 --> 00:09:20.210
So she made the doctors step outside the room.
00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:32.590
And then once they were there, that's when they said that I probably wouldn't be able to walk, talk or eat on my own ever again.
00:09:33.490 --> 00:09:39.750
So even even if I came out of the coma, there was a good chance that I only need 24 hour care for the rest of my life.
00:09:41.169 --> 00:09:49.549
And my parents, to their credit, didn't accept this like a death sentence, like so many patients do, they and their families.
00:09:50.328 --> 00:09:56.169
So they took the information, thanked the doctors and allowed me to treat it like any of the situation.
00:09:57.269 --> 00:10:01.309
So this was no different than any other challenge that I faced in my life.
00:10:01.589 --> 00:10:05.929
And because of that, I really didn't see the difference.
00:10:07.009 --> 00:10:11.850
So I ended up being in the coma, it was a partially induced coma for three weeks.
00:10:12.470 --> 00:10:15.809
I really don't remember a month because it was partially induced.
00:10:17.470 --> 00:10:23.069
And it was a month after my accident, I was transported to a rehab hospital in Boston.
00:10:23.730 --> 00:10:31.870
And that's where I kind of began my journey of having to learn how to walk, talk and eat again.
00:10:32.569 --> 00:10:42.689
And it was right at this point that really my memories start to come back, like I can start to remember things the beginning of March 2003.
00:10:43.490 --> 00:10:49.689
However, that month from February 5 to March 5 2003, that's gone.
00:10:50.069 --> 00:10:54.509
I have no memory or recollection of that.
00:10:54.730 --> 00:10:55.389
So that's gone.
00:10:57.029 --> 00:11:10.649
And it was right around this time that I started to unknowingly use a system to not only make a full recovery, and I'll actually let you know where the the goal of running out of the hospital comes from.
00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:13.110
And that's a step system.
00:11:14.089 --> 00:11:20.069
Step as an acronym, what I'll do is I'll give for you and your listeners, I'll give like a 10,000 foot view.
00:11:20.069 --> 00:11:27.309
And then if anyone's interested in learning more at the end, I can let them know how they can download step my ebook for free.
00:11:28.669 --> 00:11:30.709
And step stands for support.
00:11:31.209 --> 00:11:35.829
So make sure you have the support of your family and friends right from the beginning.
00:11:36.649 --> 00:11:42.230
And this is going to have you falling back on relationships that you built prior to your setback.
00:11:43.429 --> 00:11:50.789
T is an already talked about how my parents were, were my support in the beginning and throughout my recovery.
00:11:52.649 --> 00:12:00.169
And so trust that once you take your first step, your next steps always going to be available to you.
00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:16.269
And this also starts with trusting that voice that we all have inside of ourselves, but too many too much of the time we silence it, we push it down, or we we don't listen to it, we ignore it.
00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:22.429
So where that comes from is after I was transported, Brian to the rehab hospital.
00:12:24.069 --> 00:12:27.110
I can remember this was even before I could talk.
00:12:27.329 --> 00:12:32.949
So I can remember overhearing my parents talking with my team of doctors and therapists.
00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:37.730
And they were saying, Okay, what do we need to do to make sure Nick makes a full recovery?
00:12:38.689 --> 00:12:42.389
I heard in the back of my head, you're going to run out of the hospital.
00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:47.049
So then running out of the hospital became our common goal.
00:12:47.470 --> 00:12:57.669
And I think I just I just share that to illustrate the trust and why it's so important to listen to that, that that voice that you have inside of yourself.
00:12:57.669 --> 00:12:59.649
Yeah, he is energy.
00:13:00.129 --> 00:13:05.289
So maintain your energy allows your body's natural ability to be able to heal itself.
00:13:06.069 --> 00:13:10.169
And medication has the potential to get in the way of that.
00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:16.829
So I mean, obviously within reason here and energy continues to evolve throughout my life.
00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:20.350
And throughout anyone's life, it does.
00:13:20.789 --> 00:13:26.309
But at that point, it was my parents wanted to give me off of the medication as soon as possible.
00:13:26.309 --> 00:13:33.490
So unless it wasn't absolutely critical to my survival, they often not to have me on any medicine and medication.
00:13:34.289 --> 00:13:36.610
And then finally, P is persistence.
00:13:37.269 --> 00:13:50.220
So once you've taken your first step, keep getting up every day and taking your next step, no matter how small and by continuing to move forward every day, you are building an unstoppable momentum.
00:13:51.339 --> 00:13:59.620
So if you fast forward less than 60 days later, after being transported to the rehab hospital, I ran out of the hospital.
00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:04.799
And Brian, it wasn't like my work was done at that point.
00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:09.159
I it was it was just the beginning, if anything, it was just the starting line, really.
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:21.439
I had to continue to go to outpatient therapy for the same things, physical, occupational and speech therapy for another six months, five days a week.
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:39.339
And unlike when I was in inpatient rehab, which was double sessions, physical, occupational, speech therapy, five days a week, outpatient therapy is only what I say only, it was a single sessions, five days a week physical, occupational and speech therapy.
00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:50.019
So I also had to I mentioned, actually, I don't know if I mentioned this, the I was in eighth grade when I got in the accident.
00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:52.100
So I was only 14.
00:14:52.919 --> 00:15:04.720
And I, they gave me the option when I came home from the hospital to say, Oh, it's okay, you know, focus on your rehab, and you can take your time and get better.
00:15:04.839 --> 00:15:06.939
And just you can do eighth grade again next year.
00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:10.159
And I was like, I don't want to do that.
00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:11.439
That's something that's so terrible.
00:15:11.959 --> 00:15:34.579
So what I did, I continued for the rest of the year, this was the end of April to June, I continued to go to school, but I wasn't able to be with my classmates, I would get private tutored in school, and then I had to get private tutoring all summer long in order to continue on the high school with the rest of my classmates.
00:15:36.339 --> 00:15:49.379
And looking back at it, Brian, it's a little surreal that only 18 months later, I got because I'm sure you get this, and your listeners get this when your younger time is compressed.
00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:56.240
So if you're if you think like six months out, 12 months out, 18 months out, seems like a lifetime.
00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:56.819
Yeah.
00:15:57.319 --> 00:15:57.939
When you're younger.
00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:02.740
However, the older I get, I'm seeing it's really not that long.
00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:03.959
It's like a blink.
00:16:05.699 --> 00:16:14.379
So only 18 months later, after finishing my rehab, from my some morning accident and being in a coma, I got my start in real estate.
00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:29.799
And that was door knocking pre foreclosure doors or homeowners that have received the notice of default letter from the bank, meaning that they have missed several payments on their loan, the banks closed on the home.
00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:44.240
And I would go I would go to their door, go to door to door and try to set up meetings for one of our investors to meet with them the following week about potentially helping them out of their unfortunate situation.
00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:54.379
And it took Brian, it actually took a mentor pointing this out to me five years ago, that I realized it.
00:16:54.480 --> 00:17:05.400
And she said, Well, because it was so soon after your accident, this was a part of your recovery, going door to door, helping people out of their unfortunate situation.
00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:11.259
So I continue to do that throughout the rest of high school.
00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:17.259
And then when I graduated high school, I got my real started starting to get my real estate license.
00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:23.900
And then was helping buyers and sellers as a realtor like sales.
00:17:24.860 --> 00:17:31.860
Then my dad, my dad actually came to me, he approached me in 2014.
00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:37.259
And he was starting to buy homes again, creatively.
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:47.259
So without using any of his money, or signing personally, or big investor down payments or money or anything like that.
00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.740
And then however, he was acquiring them.
00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:57.519
So I'm still I'm still involved in now this family family business call it buying and selling real estate.
00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:04.940
So I'll just give you like 10,000 foot view, some of the ways that we buy so we'll buy on a lease purchase.
00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:12.579
So basically a delayed cash sale, take over all response and responsibility for maintenance apparent upkeep.
00:18:14.100 --> 00:18:20.059
And then in the future, someday in the future, two, three or five years, we'll we'll cash it out.
00:18:21.660 --> 00:18:26.358
And another way is if that's not closing on it.
00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:32.858
And then another way if they have a an existing loan will actually close on its subject to that existing loan.
00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:47.220
And a third way just to keep it simple is if if a seller doesn't have any debt on the property, we can actually close on it and structure principal only payments back to the seller.
00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:52.779
However, we're buying it, we're always selling it on a rent to own.
00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:58.180
And that's where I kind of came into the picture because my dad approached me in 2014.
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.420
And he was starting to accumulate all these properties.
00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:07.480
And he needed someone's help for getting them on the rent to own market.
00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:10.740
And looking for a rental buyer.
00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:19.339
So I originally at the end of 2014 started helping him with that just right alongside being a realtor.
00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:27.240
And what I found is over the next 13 months, my income totally shifted with him.
00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:37.579
I was making the majority of my money with him as an investor, because putting them on the rental market is different than listing them as a realtor.
00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:40.039
It's a different pool of buyers.
00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:45.440
So there's only roughly 18% of the market who can walk into a bank and get a loan.
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:50.220
So we're marketing to the other bigger portion of buyers.
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:51.779
Now, they're not all good.
00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:56.920
However, there's a large swath in there who they make great money.
00:19:57.399 --> 00:20:01.039
They have great incomes and they have money saved by down payment.
00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:05.619
They're just not for whatever reason able to walk into a bank and get a loan.
00:20:06.639 --> 00:20:12.259
So we're getting them into the home with the down payment anywhere from three to 10%.
00:21:18.589 --> 00:21:33.589
Getting them connected with credit enhancement, credit repair, and then getting them on the path to home ownership where there wouldn't be a path for them otherwise.
00:21:34.169 --> 00:21:53.669
So now it's in addition to our family business, now we also have associates all over the country who we help put in place the same systems, tools, and processes that have made us so successful and help them put that into their business.
00:21:54.689 --> 00:22:12.889
So I'm doing that and I'm also doing this work with Common Goal and working with individuals who are going through in the midst of their own challenge, trauma, life crisis, struggle, help number one get through it and then to be able to thrive with the rest of their lives.
00:22:13.869 --> 00:22:13.969
Awesome.
00:22:14.109 --> 00:22:14.649
That's awesome.
00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:31.089
So I want to take you back to your accident and you mentioned that the doctor said that you would never or possibly never be able to walk or talk or eat on your a couple of months later.
00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:36.789
I don't remember that.
00:22:38.389 --> 00:22:44.209
It was never something that was consciously, I was never told that.
00:22:44.549 --> 00:22:46.649
So your parents did not inform you of that?
00:22:47.169 --> 00:22:49.969
Yeah, that was what I think was important.
00:22:50.869 --> 00:22:54.089
Whether it would affect me or not, I think it would have.
00:22:54.229 --> 00:22:58.289
It was important that they kept that information from me.
00:22:58.689 --> 00:23:02.329
So obviously the doctors have to give the worst case scenario.
00:23:02.589 --> 00:23:07.490
They can't paint a rosy picture, viability, insurance, everything.
00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:10.649
They get sued nonstop if they were doing that.
00:23:12.589 --> 00:23:14.889
Yeah, so I didn't know of that.
00:23:15.289 --> 00:23:18.909
Your goal when you woke up was like, I'm going to fully recover.
00:23:19.969 --> 00:23:35.269
So what happened was when I came out of the coma and got my wits about me, got my senses back and everything, it was how it was presented to me was this happened.
00:23:37.069 --> 00:23:42.029
Yeah, this obviously it's not ideal, not what anyone wanted.
00:23:42.309 --> 00:23:45.429
But now we just have to, we got to do this work.
00:23:45.429 --> 00:23:48.429
And then so we can get back home and get back to living our life.
00:23:48.429 --> 00:23:52.049
That was always how it was presented to me.
00:23:52.349 --> 00:23:56.689
So I never even considered an alternative.
00:23:57.049 --> 00:24:01.089
It was just that's how it was presented.
00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:05.929
Yeah, I know you mentioned you were in a coma for a while.
00:24:06.089 --> 00:24:09.909
Do you remember leaving your body or anything like that?
00:24:10.969 --> 00:24:13.809
No, I get that question all the time.
00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:33.039
So as I'm sure you can imagine, yeah, no, it was it was interesting, because like I mentioned that period from February 5 to March 5 2003, that's for the most part, that's gone.
00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:35.000
I have no memories of that period.
00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:43.219
Yeah, I can't even yeah, I get nothing.
00:24:43.419 --> 00:24:47.439
And it's actually I think that's for a reason.
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.399
Like they didn't want me to, they didn't want me to remember that.
00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:57.099
So I think I'm fortunate that I don't have any memory of that time.
00:24:57.779 --> 00:24:57.879
Yeah.
00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:06.119
So that the the step process that you you came up with, that's just something that did your parents help you with that?
00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:07.879
Or did that just come from within you?
00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:09.939
Oh, all right.
00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:27.679
So I'll tell you exactly how it came about the Alright, so I was doing and I've been doing really, since I graduated from high school, because that that's kind of where we really, I kind of skipped ahead a bunch.
00:25:28.139 --> 00:25:35.819
But since I've graduated from high school, I vote no matter what I'm doing, for work and to earn a living never.
00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:37.779
It's never left me.
00:25:37.919 --> 00:25:41.979
I've always had this voice in the back of my head, Brian, it's saying always.
00:25:43.439 --> 00:25:44.199
Yeah, great, Nick.
00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:51.579
What you really need to be doing is telling your story from stage and helping trauma survivors thrive with the rest of their lives.
00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:59.839
So really, since we started holding events in 2016.
00:26:00.139 --> 00:26:04.159
And 2016 was when I let my real estate license go.
00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:13.679
I've usually had the opportunity to tell my story on stage our events for maybe 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there.
00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:21.039
And I always thought, okay, I'm that's me listening to that voice that that's me following that guidance.
00:26:21.919 --> 00:26:25.240
Kind of not really, though.
00:26:25.379 --> 00:26:29.259
So it took until 2019.
00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:33.459
Someone saw me speak at one of our events.
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:36.259
And her name was Sharon Spano.
00:26:36.659 --> 00:26:37.879
She approached me after.
00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:54.519
And she said, congratulated me and said I did a great job my talk, but said if I was ever looking to fine tune my message and bring it to another level, so I could help the most amount of people and have the most impact.
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.479
She could introduce me to a few coaches and mentors that have helped her along the way.
00:27:00.679 --> 00:27:04.319
Well, Brian, at this point, I wasn't ready yet.
00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:11.479
I was actually in the final throes of a voice issue that I had been dealing with since 2012.
00:27:11.479 --> 00:27:13.339
I developed it in 2012.
00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:18.799
It almost sounded like it was really hard for me to get the words out.
00:27:18.959 --> 00:27:21.479
I had a lot of tension in my throat.
00:27:21.679 --> 00:27:23.479
So I wasn't ready yet.
00:27:23.659 --> 00:27:28.899
And even when this woman when Sharon saw me speak, I was I was pretty strained.
00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:30.899
My voice was strained at that time.
00:27:31.179 --> 00:27:33.679
However, I was still able to get through it.
00:27:33.979 --> 00:27:38.479
So I wasn't ready yet to take her up on that offer.
00:27:39.479 --> 00:27:41.399
But I always held on to her card.
00:27:42.159 --> 00:27:45.579
And then after the voices after.
00:27:46.479 --> 00:27:49.799
So actually, we have a little bit of time I can I can tell you about it.
00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:50.179
Yeah.
00:27:50.179 --> 00:28:09.119
Yeah, the voice the voice issue I I started to get after looking everywhere for basically about a year from 2000 August of 2012 to the following year, I was looking for everywhere for an answer.
00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:12.579
I was going to my my primary care physician.
00:28:14.219 --> 00:28:21.719
All these different doctors and allergists, naturopathic doctor, no one could tell me what was wrong.
00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:24.219
I just knew something wasn't right.
00:28:24.439 --> 00:28:25.759
And I couldn't get an answer.
00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:42.419
Eventually, I wound up in a well, let me let me say this I on my own went to speech therapy again, because I figured I had to learn how to talk to him once I couldn't help I can I do it again.
00:28:42.419 --> 00:28:45.059
So I went on my own.
00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:48.059
And for six months, I was going.
00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:53.379
I mean, every every week, every other week, or multiple times a week.
00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:57.439
And then I was doing all the voice exercises that they said.
00:28:57.579 --> 00:29:04.959
And nothing was really it gave me strategies and tips and hints for dealing with the voice issue, but nothing was really fixing it.
00:29:05.719 --> 00:29:21.240
So after I had kind of exhausted that, in May or June of 2013, they referred me and said I should go to a voice specialist in Boston.
00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:25.719
So I had an appointment with him in August 2013.
00:29:26.339 --> 00:29:32.639
And after looking for almost a year, like looking for an answer, no one could tell me what was going on.
00:29:32.979 --> 00:29:37.240
Yeah, I was amazed when I had an appointment with this voice specialist in Boston.
00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.799
And they're only like 35 of these people in the whole country.
00:29:40.959 --> 00:29:48.479
So this guy walked in the room and heard me speak and right away, not so he goes all that.
00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:50.819
Yeah, we deal with that all the time.
00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:57.299
We'll get no time go west to the front desk and schedule Botox injection a couple weeks.
00:29:57.939 --> 00:30:00.839
So I was like, my mouth hit the floor.
00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:02.379
I was I couldn't believe it.
00:30:02.459 --> 00:30:05.639
I felt so so I felt like peace.
00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:08.000
I felt so at ease.
00:30:08.199 --> 00:30:15.259
Because here this guy was he, like he was an expert at fixing this, he knew what I was doing, no one could give me an answer.
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:24.459
So I started to get in August of 2013, I started to get Botox injections into my vocal folds.
00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:33.479
And I had to get them several times a year, two, three, four times a year to relieve the tension.
00:30:33.899 --> 00:30:54.479
And then when my voice was coming back, I worked with their higher level voice therapist speech pathologist to kind of retrain my I wasn't quite ready yet, to take her up on that offer.
00:30:55.199 --> 00:31:00.619
That is all like, all right, I want to like explore speaking and seeing if I can help more people.
00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:05.139
However, I always hung on to her card.
00:31:05.459 --> 00:31:11.419
And it took until May of 2021, after the voice issue had worked its way out of my system.
00:31:12.419 --> 00:31:14.799
I don't need Botox injections anymore.
00:31:14.979 --> 00:31:18.679
The last one I got was February 13 of 2020.
00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:23.339
So I don't definitely don't need those anymore.
00:31:24.219 --> 00:31:27.279
I'm able to may be able to speak with you here with you and your listeners.
00:31:27.719 --> 00:31:34.199
So I finally reached out to her May of 2021 said, Okay, I'm ready.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:35.240
What should I do?
00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:36.199
Who should I talk to?
00:31:36.719 --> 00:31:40.819
She introduced me to her mentor, Tricia Brooke.
00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:50.299
And part of the reason why I wanted to I wanted to explore this was because that voice that I talked about it just wouldn't go away.
00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:54.199
Nothing I did would would appease it.
00:31:54.679 --> 00:31:56.079
It just stayed with me.
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:57.799
So I finally I reached out to her.
00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:02.719
And she introduced me to her mentor Tricia Brooke.
00:32:02.899 --> 00:32:09.819
And on that first call with Tricia there, since that first call, there's been no voice in the back of my head.
00:32:10.339 --> 00:32:16.240
So she told me I share my goals and my story what I was looking to do.
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:25.079
She told me I should do the speaker salon, which is you get to be on stage at the Triad Theater in New York City for six weeks in a row.
00:32:25.959 --> 00:32:28.379
And that was in the fall of 2021.
00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:30.339
That was 25,000.
00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:42.259
I said yes, because I I had to I had to I had to like satisfy this voice I had to I had to listen to it.
00:32:42.419 --> 00:32:48.279
I just I wasn't going to live the rest of my life without exploring this.
00:32:48.459 --> 00:32:50.159
So I did it.
00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:56.179
And then during the speaker salon, Tricia pitched the idea of what it would look like to work with her one on one.
00:32:56.639 --> 00:33:02.299
She told me that she specializes in in working with speakers to build out their speaker platform.
00:33:04.659 --> 00:33:07.240
Didn't even know what that was at the time.
00:33:08.219 --> 00:33:10.639
She said that's 75,000.
00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:15.740
I said, Hmm, I don't have that in my back pocket.
00:33:16.379 --> 00:33:20.399
So I said, Give me a week and I'll figure it out.
00:33:20.639 --> 00:33:22.559
And I went and applied for financing.
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:24.039
I was approved.
00:33:25.159 --> 00:33:27.339
And six days later, I sent her the money.
00:33:27.959 --> 00:33:31.019
And it was the best decision that I've ever made.
00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:35.319
Because without it now, she was one that helped me launch common goal.
00:33:36.099 --> 00:33:41.559
Before her I maybe I'd spoke for 10 or 15 minutes here or there.
00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:53.339
Now I give keynotes to brain injury 45 and 60 minute keynotes to brain injury associations and other organizations that support individuals that are going through trauma.
00:33:54.459 --> 00:33:58.779
Also, a big part of that is like speaking with you and your audience today.
00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:08.079
So she was the one isn't really long answer your question, but she was the one that was able to pull the step system out of me.
00:34:08.199 --> 00:34:12.039
Okay, so I only had a limited number of calls with her.
00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:20.000
And on our very first call, she said to me, All right, so you have this amazing story.
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:24.920
You run a snowboarding accident, your parents are told you wouldn't walk, talk or eat again.
00:34:25.500 --> 00:34:26.880
Then you ran out of the hospital.
00:34:27.139 --> 00:34:27.860
How'd you do it?
00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:31.199
I said, I don't know.
00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:34.119
I just got up every day and did the best I could.
00:34:34.280 --> 00:34:35.480
I kept working every day.
00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:38.519
And she kind of leaned in.
00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:39.340
It was on a virtual.
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:41.199
It was like this, we could see each other.
00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:42.619
So no, a little bit.
00:34:42.740 --> 00:34:46.639
She goes, no, not good enough.
00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:49.400
How did you do it?
00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:53.559
And she kept asking me to the point where I was very frustrated with her.
00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:55.079
I think that was our first call.
00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:56.960
I may have ended that call early.
00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:57.559
Yeah.
00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:06.820
And I'm just so happy, Brian, that we went through that process because she was able to pull the step system out of me.
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:20.539
So the step system is just the way it's really the way I was raised to deal with any kind of life challenge, difficulty, anything that's thrown my way during life.
00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:25.719
And that that's what the step system is.
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:34.599
So Trisha was able to, thank goodness, I went through that process with her and I worked one on one with her, pulled the step system out of me.
00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:39.880
And now I get to share with the world and help more and more people because of it.
00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:40.539
Yeah.
00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:46.659
So that voice that you hear in the back of your head, what do you think that voice is?
00:35:48.780 --> 00:35:57.820
To me, the more I learn, the more I learn about spirituality and I think it's God.
00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:03.039
I couldn't articulate it at that time.
00:36:03.219 --> 00:36:07.219
I mean, even five to seven years ago, I couldn't articulate it.
00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:12.500
That's what it was, but that's what it is.
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:18.480
But that's exactly what I've come to learn.
00:36:18.740 --> 00:36:29.380
Yeah, that's God, the universe, whatever you want to call it, that higher power other than us out there, that's who that is.
00:36:30.120 --> 00:36:30.220
Yeah.
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:35.740
And so you mentioned during the time of your accident that the right paramedic just happened to be in the parking lot.
00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:38.400
Do you believe that that was orchestrated?
00:36:39.220 --> 00:36:39.740
Absolutely.
00:36:41.180 --> 00:36:47.420
There were so many things that had to break just the right way for me to be, for me to be here today.
00:36:47.420 --> 00:36:47.880
Yeah.
00:36:48.980 --> 00:36:49.079
Yeah.
00:36:50.620 --> 00:36:53.480
A thousand, I was going to say a hundred percent, but a thousand percent.
00:36:54.059 --> 00:36:55.160
Um, absolutely.
00:36:55.320 --> 00:37:09.440
So the right paramedic, um, my goggles, cushioning my blow, and then my parents kind of shielding me from the, um, the doctor's prognosis, um, all those things had to break it.
00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:14.360
Who knows if I'd be here today, if any one of those things didn't break that exact way.
00:37:14.700 --> 00:37:15.140
Yeah.
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:25.079
So, you know, we, we all, people go through difficult times, especially people listening to this broadcast, uh, today we, cause that's why that's what brings people to grief to growth.
00:37:25.240 --> 00:37:28.000
They've, they've gone through something or they're going through something difficult.
00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:31.960
Um, what do you, well, you already talked about that.
00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:40.760
You, you believe that this, this was maybe somehow, um, preordained or whatever, but what, what is it that keeps you going?
00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:47.920
That keeps you, I mean, as you were going through, I mean, I could imagine at 14 years old, were you, what was your feeling at the time?
00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:48.620
Were you depressed?
00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:49.720
Were you angry?
00:37:50.059 --> 00:37:51.500
What were you going through emotionally?
00:37:54.670 --> 00:38:04.690
So, uh, like I shared previously, it was, um, never, it was never presented to me any other way that I had a choice in the matter.
00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:08.030
It was just, okay, this happened.
00:38:08.349 --> 00:38:13.950
Now we gotta like, we gotta do the best we can with the therapy, with the work, with the doctors.
00:38:14.590 --> 00:38:18.090
Like I would get extra, I would ask for extra exercises.
00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:21.590
I would share my goal of running out of the hospital with all my therapists.
00:38:21.690 --> 00:38:23.530
So everyone was on the same page.
00:38:24.570 --> 00:38:27.150
Um, and then we gotta get back home.
00:38:27.450 --> 00:38:31.050
And that was always just the natural progression.
00:38:31.349 --> 00:38:34.349
It was never, um, presented to me.
00:38:34.530 --> 00:38:34.809
Okay.
00:38:35.610 --> 00:38:37.490
Uh, do you feel like getting up today?
00:38:37.690 --> 00:38:41.370
It was, uh, it was, uh, it was presented a different way.
00:38:41.490 --> 00:38:44.930
However, I can tell you though, um, I am human.
00:38:44.990 --> 00:38:51.230
So there was a moment of doubt that I had in the only really credit to my parents.
00:38:51.530 --> 00:39:05.730
The only moment of doubt that I, I can really remember when I was in, when I was in the hospital and that was, I got up, I had my physical therapists teach.
00:39:05.910 --> 00:39:06.809
We had a shower again.
00:39:07.289 --> 00:39:09.090
I mean, if you can picture that.
00:39:10.950 --> 00:39:16.289
So then I would have breakfast and start my morning therapy, physical occupational speech therapy.
00:39:17.510 --> 00:39:21.390
And it was at one of those launches that a moment of doubt crept in.
00:39:22.370 --> 00:39:32.730
I can remember Brian at the time I was in a wheelchair and I remember just looking over my situation and just being in the wheelchair and I just couldn't figure it out.
00:39:33.470 --> 00:39:40.710
I can remember turning to my mom who was with me during the day every day, uh, my mom and her parents that, that was my support.
00:39:40.710 --> 00:39:42.650
And that's what I talked about within step.
00:39:43.809 --> 00:39:49.110
Um, and just saying, mom, am I ever going to be able to walk in?
00:39:50.890 --> 00:39:52.570
And she said, of course you are.
00:39:52.650 --> 00:39:53.590
That's what we're doing here.
00:39:53.670 --> 00:39:55.450
So you can get everything back and we can go home.
00:39:56.870 --> 00:40:04.010
So this step allowed me to take, continue to go and take that next step and just do what was in front of me.
00:40:04.690 --> 00:40:12.070
Um, and I think that's so important because when you're going through, it doesn't matter what you go through.
00:40:12.210 --> 00:40:16.849
I even have one of those moments, probably a few of those moments during my voice challenge.
00:40:17.010 --> 00:40:30.910
And if you think of it, the accident, uh, my accent being in the corner for a month and then less than two months being an inpatient, uh, rehab in Boston, that was a blink.
00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:38.150
Um, it didn't feel like a blank at that time slows down when you're going through something.
00:40:38.150 --> 00:40:39.990
It felt like an eternity.
00:40:40.670 --> 00:40:52.670
However, then when I had to overcome the voice issue, if you think of it, I developed in 2012, I had my last Botox injection in 2020.
00:40:53.789 --> 00:41:00.809
I was still dealing with it throughout the rest of the year, like figuring out, is this like, do I need to get another call to get another injection or whatever?
00:41:01.030 --> 00:41:03.130
So I had doubts throughout that time.
00:41:03.289 --> 00:41:12.630
I think I'm more proud of that, um, that I am my accent because maybe I have recency bias, but, um, there was doubts.
00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:13.110
Yeah.
00:41:13.230 --> 00:41:18.070
There was frustrations and I kinda, I just wrote about this in my newsletter.
00:41:18.289 --> 00:41:22.390
It just came out last week is during 2019.
00:41:23.530 --> 00:41:30.530
I think that was the time that, uh, that was probably my hardest year.
00:41:30.530 --> 00:42:02.650
Uh, however, I think that was, uh, the best year for me just because my resolve, my, um, my attitude, everything was tested to, I got to a point, um, in 2019 where I said, you know what, as long as I'm seeing progress, every time I get to, I have to go and get another Botox injection, as long as I'm seeing progress and the doctor is still telling me, wow, you're a little better than you were last time.
00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:06.010
I'm going to keep working every day.
00:42:06.530 --> 00:42:08.410
Uh, and I'm going to keep doing my exercises.
00:42:08.710 --> 00:42:10.630
I'm going to keep doing my natural therapies.
00:42:11.070 --> 00:42:13.230
Uh, remember when I said energy has evolved.
00:42:13.610 --> 00:42:19.390
So, um, I, I do, and I still do to this day, natural, uh, therapy.
00:42:19.530 --> 00:42:29.390
So twee knots, like Chinese body work once every five weeks and then myofascial release once every five weeks, I do those two things to help keep my energy in tune.
00:42:30.250 --> 00:42:34.769
So in my mind in 2019, I'm like, I'm going to keep doing my voice exercise.
00:42:34.890 --> 00:42:40.250
I'm going to keep doing these natural treatments and I want to keep getting these Botox injections.
00:42:40.309 --> 00:42:49.190
As long as I'm still seeing progress, as small as it can be, as long as I'm still seeing it, I'm not, there is no give up.
00:42:49.570 --> 00:42:52.789
I'm going to keep trying and keep working at this.
00:42:53.110 --> 00:43:05.030
And it's funny because, um, I had to get one in 2019 in November, actually after I ran a, uh, half marathon.
00:43:06.269 --> 00:43:12.870
Um, and I think it was actually right before I ran a half marathon.
00:43:13.030 --> 00:43:17.269
So I think it, that drain me and, and used up the Botox, if you will.
00:43:18.110 --> 00:43:25.550
Um, and then I was bummed out that I had to get another one, um, and call and get on the schedule in January of 2020.
00:43:26.050 --> 00:43:30.349
And it's, it's ironic because that was the last one that I ever needed.
00:43:30.930 --> 00:43:33.990
And I just got to that point where I say, you know what?
00:43:34.910 --> 00:43:35.750
Forget everything.
00:43:35.910 --> 00:43:39.110
I'm going to keep working at this because I keep seeing progress.
00:43:39.110 --> 00:43:40.750
And that was the last one I needed.
00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:41.530
Yeah.
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:43.450
So that's the persistence piece of it, right?
00:43:43.550 --> 00:43:46.070
It's just, keeping, keeping going.
00:43:46.910 --> 00:43:50.750
So it's, have you, have you made a full physical recover from your accident?
00:43:50.910 --> 00:43:52.809
I mean, you, you mentioned running half marathons.
00:43:52.950 --> 00:43:54.050
Were you able to go back and ski?
00:43:55.490 --> 00:43:57.570
Uh, yes, I have.
00:43:58.150 --> 00:44:02.849
Um, I did some board after, um, however, I made my mom cry.
00:44:03.410 --> 00:44:07.590
Um, so it was, it was the year after my accident.
00:44:08.329 --> 00:44:18.090
Um, I was, because before my accident, I was a snowboard instructor at the local Hill and I somehow, I don't know how I did it.
00:44:18.390 --> 00:44:27.230
I convinced my parents that it was a good idea for me to be around it and be around the, you know, my friends and the snowboarding and just help out at the mountain.
00:44:27.230 --> 00:44:37.829
Well, obviously temptation proved too much and ended up borrowing, uh, my friend's snowboards without their knowledge and, uh, snowboarding.
00:44:38.530 --> 00:44:41.490
And once my friends saw I could snowboard, they're like, Oh, Nick's back.
00:44:42.309 --> 00:44:51.750
So, um, I did this for a few weeks and then my mom somehow found out and, uh, I came home that day and she was crying.
00:44:52.370 --> 00:44:56.769
Um, so, I mean, you never, no one ever wants to make their mom cry.
00:44:57.070 --> 00:45:00.630
So I, I haven't done it since that time.
00:45:00.730 --> 00:45:03.849
I think it was more just to prove to myself, Brian, that I could do it.
00:45:04.550 --> 00:45:13.110
Um, I take that same, uh, drive focus and, uh, energy and apply it to other areas of my life.
00:45:13.110 --> 00:45:16.970
Like I said, I, I've, um, done a lot of running.
00:45:17.150 --> 00:45:30.170
I've done a couple half marathons, um, 2015, 2019, uh, 10 marries in 2016 and more recently a 10 K in 2022.
00:45:30.410 --> 00:45:37.309
So, uh, yeah, I'm, um, I have made a, uh, a full recovery if you will.
00:45:37.430 --> 00:45:37.849
Yeah.
00:45:38.210 --> 00:45:38.390
Awesome.
00:45:38.849 --> 00:45:40.750
So Nick, Nick, tell me about common goal.
00:45:42.450 --> 00:46:14.269
So common goal is, uh, and I, I kind of breezed over this a little bit is, um, really my company is really what I've been doing naturally, uh, my whole life is that whenever someone is in any kind of trouble with a life challenge, um, like a bunch of people that, uh, were unfortunately abused, um, any kind of a health challenge, any, like any crisis is, um, getting with them, helping them to get through it.
00:46:14.269 --> 00:46:17.269
And then so that they can thrive with the rest of their lives.
00:46:17.750 --> 00:46:23.550
So, um, I've done some speaking for brain injury associations at their annual conferences.
00:46:24.210 --> 00:46:28.769
I've done some webinars for them, uh, like the brain injury association of America.
00:46:29.450 --> 00:46:34.070
Um, and, uh, it's really, that's what it is.
00:46:34.110 --> 00:46:38.470
It's the company that, uh, my mentor Tricia helped me start.
00:46:38.690 --> 00:46:44.710
So before I was working with Tricia, the step system, common goal, this was just all something that was in my head.
00:46:46.130 --> 00:46:54.510
I, I didn't, um, I wasn't able to get it out into the world and be able to talk about it like I am with you today.
00:46:54.870 --> 00:47:04.390
So, um, now I have the, uh, step, the ebook, which I think now is the perfect time to give the listeners way that they can get that.
00:47:04.650 --> 00:47:09.730
So, um, what I went over is just a 10,000 foot view of the step system.
00:47:09.730 --> 00:47:21.930
But if you go to nickprefontaine.com forward slash step, you can download the whole step system for free and learn about all about support, trust, energy, and persistence.
00:47:23.090 --> 00:47:31.050
Um, so yeah, common goal is just by company that, uh, helped me launch a website, helped me get this ebook going.
00:47:32.070 --> 00:47:40.450
And also it's the other, like the other speaking and talks I've done, like I did a really cool talk a couple of years ago in New York city.
00:47:40.550 --> 00:47:44.570
It's called my introduction to stillness was a coma.
00:47:45.870 --> 00:47:54.930
Um, so what that is, obviously I talk about my accent, but that's, um, that was really how I was introduced to meditation.
00:47:55.710 --> 00:48:03.809
Um, and I think now meditation, remember how I said, um, the E in the step system energy continues to evolve.
00:48:04.269 --> 00:48:11.370
So the beginning of the onset of a traumatic event, the most important thing is to get off the medication as soon as possible.
00:48:11.809 --> 00:48:23.690
However, today, if you fast forward to present day, um, that's like, I meditate, uh, three to four times a week, anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, meditating and do Qi Gong.
00:48:24.210 --> 00:48:28.050
Um, also, uh, like I shared, I get those natural treatments.
00:48:28.050 --> 00:48:30.349
So that's what energy is to me today.
00:48:30.890 --> 00:48:30.990
Okay.
00:48:32.170 --> 00:48:47.950
So yeah, it's just, um, it's just trying to inspire and help more people to get through, give them a framework that's going to help them get through, um, whatever their challenges and be able to thrive with the rest of the life, uh, lives like I have.
00:48:48.130 --> 00:48:48.610
Yeah.
00:48:48.890 --> 00:48:52.110
So people can find out about common goal by going to your website.
00:48:52.269 --> 00:48:52.630
I assume.
00:48:53.190 --> 00:48:53.490
Yeah.
00:48:53.650 --> 00:49:02.930
Um, so if you go to Nick pre fontaine.com, you'll, I mean, to get the ebook, you can get it right on the homepage, but, uh, it directors forward slash step.
00:49:03.550 --> 00:49:09.630
Um, however, you'll also find on there, several of the talks I've done that are in that realm.
00:49:10.030 --> 00:49:16.870
Like, um, my introduction is telling this was a coma is all about meditation and how to incorporate that into your life.
00:49:17.769 --> 00:49:22.030
And, um, then you can download the, um, download step, the ebook.
00:49:22.030 --> 00:49:29.110
And then the only product I have right now, Brian is the, um, the step video series.
00:49:29.470 --> 00:49:46.750
So, um, that's the next best thing to working with me one-on-one is, um, I actually take you through, each letter and help you identify with your own workbook for each letter support, trust, energy, and persistence.
00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:59.110
So I help you identify, uh, what, who your support is, um, what is the evidence that you have to trust, um, how you can focus on your energy and persist finally P persistence.
00:49:59.210 --> 00:50:04.470
As long as you're doing those three before, um, you can continue to move forward every day.
00:50:05.050 --> 00:50:06.930
Um, build that unstoppable momentum.
00:50:07.130 --> 00:50:18.090
So that's the only product I have, uh, right now it's $37, but, um, it's really the next best thing to work with me one-on-one and I encourage anyone to pick it up.
00:50:18.630 --> 00:50:18.730
Yeah.
00:50:19.070 --> 00:50:20.849
And people can work with you one-on-one as well.
00:50:21.309 --> 00:50:22.130
Yeah, absolutely.
00:50:22.329 --> 00:50:23.930
They can reach out through the website for sure.
00:50:24.470 --> 00:50:24.570
Yeah.
00:50:25.349 --> 00:50:29.110
Well, um, Nick, anything that I didn't ask you that you wanted to get across today?
00:50:29.890 --> 00:50:30.329
Yeah.
00:50:30.590 --> 00:50:35.370
Um, I mentioned, I almost forgot I mentioned because I don't, I just treat it naturally.
00:50:35.610 --> 00:50:42.190
So if it comes up like, um, the other, like the real estate portion of my story, I can't hide it.
00:50:42.309 --> 00:50:43.210
It's who I am.
00:50:43.329 --> 00:50:45.970
And like what I do and everything, that's part of my story.
00:50:46.450 --> 00:50:46.610
Right.
00:50:47.289 --> 00:50:54.610
However, so the real estate portion, if anything that I mentioned, uh, real estate related was of interest to you.
00:50:54.950 --> 00:51:00.910
And, um, like how we're buying and selling homes creatively without using any of our cash or credit.
00:51:01.769 --> 00:51:08.630
Um, you can go to our website, smart real estate, codes.com forward slash master's class.
00:51:08.630 --> 00:51:11.430
And there you can get registered for a free master's class.
00:51:11.430 --> 00:51:17.390
That's going to teach you all about how we buy and sell on terms is what we like to call it.
00:51:17.610 --> 00:51:22.050
Um, and then at the end, if you're interested in learning more, you'll be able to take your first step.
00:51:22.730 --> 00:51:23.130
Okay.
00:51:23.630 --> 00:51:23.730
Awesome.
00:51:24.309 --> 00:51:24.470
Awesome.
00:51:24.690 --> 00:51:27.550
Well, Nick, thanks so much for being here today and for being such an inspiration.
00:51:29.030 --> 00:51:29.710
Oh, you're welcome.
00:51:29.930 --> 00:51:31.490
Thank you for having me.
00:51:31.490 --> 00:51:32.329
All right.
00:51:32.370 --> 00:51:33.530
Have a great rest of your day.
00:52:03.840 --> 00:52:03.940
Bye.
