Nick Santonastasso’s Comeback Story - The Unshakeable Mindset

Nick Santonastasso delivers some inspiring wisdom learned from 25 years of adversity. Being born with no legs and one arm gave Nick a choice in life. He could resent the hand that he was dealt, or he could choose to live life to its fullest and turn that obstacle into a launchpad for success, growth, and learning. Nick shares the mindset and beliefs that allow him to crush it every single day and how your story of adversity is the foundation for your success if you choose it to be. 

• Growing up was incredibly challenging for Nick. One of the biggest advantages he received early on was his parents focusing on the 30% chance of him surviving and not the 70% chance of him dying. What you focus on you get more of, and Nick pulled through to continue to take on the obstacles in front of him.
• Nick’s parents gave him as many opportunities to figure things out for himself as much as possible. Early on, Nick developed an empowering relationship with failure and rejection, and became solution-oriented above all.
• Focus 10% of your energy on the problem, analyze it, feel it, and then commit the rest of your energy to the solution because what you focus on you get more of.
• You need to realize that who you are is built over time and you need to put in the work every day. 
• Focus = Emotion = Action = Results. What is wrong in your life will always be there to focus on, but on the flip side what is right is always there too and you get to choose.
• In middle and high school, Nick was looking for the secret sauce which was confidence. Confidence is a skill that you hone and practice, and is following through on your promises.
• How many times have you made a promise to yourself that you broke? Every time you do that you diminish your self integrity and your word and your relationship with yourself. One broken promise can lead to a downward spiral.
• Confidence and self-worth is the foundation to your success, because you will never make more than you think you are worth, in all areas of your life.
• When something negative happens to us, we have the choice of stacking thoughts either negatively or positively. For Nick, an early experience of pain from bullying led to him choosing to break through the pain and choosing the positive path.
• Your brain is a problem solving machine and if you ask it a question it’s going to give you an answer. Negative, disempowering questions like “why me?” will give you disempowering answers. Great leaders don’t give you answers, they lead you to the right answers by asking the right questions.
• What are you willing to sacrifice for your dream? What are the limiting beliefs that you need to cut out that are not serving you? Who are the people in your life that you need to cut out that are no longer serving you?
• Love your family and friends, but choose your peer group. If you spend time with people with low standards, it’s only a matter of time before you lower your own standards.
• Change is hard because our brain is always trying to bring us back to our old identity. We are in a constant battle with our old self that is trying to sabotage our growth.
• Nick recalls an event when he was on an airplane and how he chose to look at the situation in a positive light. Reframing is a technique that you can use to find the empowering meaning from a negative event.
• One of the most painful moments in Nick’s adult life was when his brother overdosed. Nick had to rise up and be there for his father. He learned that he can’t control everything in his life, that things will happen and they can either sink you or you can learn from it.
• Your adversity sculpted you. Your adversity is a blessing that enables your ability to cultivate a more powerful character.
• Nick has a daily practice that he uses to maintain his unshakeable mindset. Two of his non-negotiables are drinking a gallon of water and 45 mins of movement.
• Most people have a dirt road to happiness and a highway to hell. Most people design the rules of their life to make it hard to feel successful. You are in charge of your rules.
• Gratitude is the most powerful emotion because it outweighs all the negative emotions. You can be grateful for the things that you have, but you can also be grateful for things that haven’t happened yet, and doing so pulls it toward you. This is why visualization and meditation can be so powerful.
• Avoiding your phone in the morning is a simple way to keep the ball in your court instead of giving your power away to the world.
• If Nick could offer a piece of advice to his younger self it would be to stay the course. Most people aren’t persistent enough to get the results they want. Also, seek validation from within and take your power back. The only opinion that matters is your own.
• Comparison is the thief of joy. Only compare yourself to the next greater version of yourself.
• If you know you need to change but don’t know where to start, begin by consuming great content. Your mind is a garden, and if you don’t tend your garden weeds will grow. Find someone who has the mindset and lifestyle you want and model them. Be conscious of the people that you are learning from.
• Always have your goals and ambitions at the top of your mind and always share them with people because you never know who is going to open the next door for you.
• Nick’s comeback shoutout goes to his brother and his business partner. Sometimes it takes a person from a different walk of life to see a gift in you that you may not see for yourself.