Best-In-Class with A.J. Madden

Send us Fan Mail

The Seven Leadership Secrets of Curt Cignetti 

1.  The Right Influences 

2.  Have A Blueprint (A Plan)

3.  No Self-Imposed Limitations (Change The Way People Think) 

4.  How You Do Something Is How You Do Everything (High Standards) 

5.  Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing (The Process)

6.  Don’t Waste Time 

7.  The Right People

1.  The Right Influences 

“My dad had the most influence on me of anyone in my life.  Highly competitive. Great leader. Led by example. Honest. hard worker. Organized. tough. Mentally tough. That guy was given his last rites twice and he lived 43 more years. He worked out for two hours every morning religiously.” -Curt Cignetti 

2.  Have A Blueprint (A Plan)

“You have to have a blueprint, a plan, a way of doing things. And you work your plan every day.” -Curt Cignetti

3.  No Self-Imposed Limitations (Change The Way People Think) 

“We believe that with proper preparation, the commitment and discipline, that there is no self imposed limitations to what we can accomplish.” -Curt Cignetti

4.  How You Do Something Is How You Do Everything (High Standards) 

“You have to have high standards and expectations.  You can never compromise and lower your standards. You have to have consistency day in and day out on maintaining high standards. And there has to be accountability through the entire organization. How you do something as how you do everything.” -Curt Cignetti

5.  Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing (The Process)

“We are never about results. We are process oriented. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know how we are going to prepare every day for the future. And there will be no self imposed limitations on what we could accomplish. And when we take the field, we will be prepared and confident.”  -Curt Cignetti

6.  Don’t Waste Time 

“My big thing is to always have a sense of urgency every second, minute, hour of the day. But I am also a big believer if you are organized and structured, that you don’t need to spend 18 hours in the office every single day.  -Curt Cignetti

7.  The Right People

“At the end of the day, it’s all about people. The people you hire and the people you recruited.  They have to have strong character, strong passion, and the ability to be successful.” -Curt Cignetti

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#curtcignetti #indianafootball #mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

Make Self-Compassion Your Superpower Today

Dr. Kristin Neff, the leading voice in this field, has shown us that self-compassion isn’t weakness. It’s strength. It’s fuel. It’s the cape you can put on every single day to meet life’s challenges.

Arm yourself with Self-Kindness—your shield.

Draw strength from Common Humanity—your belonging.

Harness Mindfulness—your clarity in the storm.

The science is undeniable: 34% less anxiety, 23% less depression, 40% more resilience, and a 32% reduction in stress hormones. That’s not just self-help—that’s superpower science.

Dr. Neff says it best: “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.”

So wear the cape. Lead with kindness. And watch how your world transforms.

The Book:  Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff

https://a.co/d/dV6rBqy

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

The Top 3 Things Weak Leaders Do (And How To Be Strong)

1.  Complain.

2.  Avoid difficult conversations in regards to standards of attitude, effort, behavior.

3.  Show doubts and fears.

1.  Complain.

-Mindless negativity:  blame, complain, condemn, vent, gossip

-Everyone has problems, no one needs to hear yours

-Relentless Solution Focus by Dr. Jason Selk

-Ask for help 

-Stop giving away your power and respect

-Book:  Relentless Solution Focus by Dr. Jason Selk

The best CEOs don’t complain.  I’ve known Alan Mullally (Ford Motor Company) and Francis Hesselbein (Girl Scouts) for over 30 years.  I’ve never heard them whine, I’ve never heard them complain, I’ve never heard them say “poor me”.  Never.  They say, “I am up, I’m positive, life is good, let’s make the best of every day”.  -Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2.  Avoid difficult conversations and decisions in regards to standards of attitude, effort, behavior.

-Clear and simple standards that you personally embody 

-Attitude:  Relentless Solution Focus, Effort:  Give 100% 100% of the time, Behavior:  Be kind and useful

-Forgiveness

-How am I that?  99% of leaders are living low standards themselves.

-Recognize 3 things they are doing well and one thing they could do better

-Pygmalion Effect:  I believe in you

-Set up a follow up conversation

-Book:  The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh

Two overriding supervisory rules that you'll want to remember by Dan Kennedy:

1. Expect the best. Expectations have enormous impact on results. And conveyed expectations have great impact on most people. Most folks are smarter and more capable than we give them credit for.  Some never get challenged.

2. Know that you only have the right to expect what you inspect.

The reason we hesitate to have the hard conversations is because we don’t care enough. If you truly cared enough, you would say what needs to be said. After all, how else are they going to improve and maximize their potential? Let me remind you that nothing can change until the unsaid is spoken.  -Keith Cunningham 

3.  Show doubts and fears.

-Mindful breathing

-Relentless Solution Focus by Dr. Jason Selk 

-Ask for help 

-Books:  Relentless Solution Focus by Dr. Jason Selk, The 7 Rules of Power by Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer

One of the leader’s most important tasks is to project confidence.  When someone projects confidence, others are more likely to follow them.  Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer

If your significant other has left you, if your kids are acting up, if you’ve been given some horrible medical diagnosis, obviously your friends and family care about this. But your employees need you to show up with energy, they need you to show up with confidence, and they need you to show up in a way that attends to what they need from you, not what you need from yourself.  Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer 

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coach

Send us Fan Mail

12 Life-changing Leadership Habits You’ve Never Heard Of

1.  Start meetings two minutes early.

-Selk time, John Wooden

2.  Set a moratorium on text messages and phone calls outside of work hours (outside of emergency).

-Make it a prescription, not a suggestion and also live by example

-In order to be highly effective and also work reasonable hours, you have to apply some of the following habits/principles to accomplish this.

3.  Go to GOAT Mountain when learning, spend 5 to 60 minutes a day studying the greats.

-Founders podcast 

-Biographies:  Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan The Life

-Wisdom of the Bullfrog by Admiral William McCraven

-The Amazon Way by Jeff Rossman

-The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh

4.  Form a personal board directors of 3 to 5 people to tell you A) what you’re doing right, B) what you can improve, and C) teach you something new.

-Mentors, coaches, therapists, doctors, trusted friends and family members, spiritual advisors, personal trainers, etc.

5.  Learn the best of performance psychology.

-Relentless Solution Focus

-Learned Excellence

-The Success Principles

-The Confident Mind

6.  Collect and use the best mental models/principles.

-Mental Models by Peter Hollins

-The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

-Relentless Solution Focus by Jason Selk

7.  Religiously practice the 80/20 Principle and Time Blocking:  Block off the first 90 minutes of your day for your most important tasks only.  If you were only allowed to work for 90 minutes today, what would you work on?

-The One Thing by Gary Keller

8.  Apply Parkinson’s law to everything.  How can I do this in half the time?

-Mental Models by Peter Hollins

9.  Master the The Pygmalion effect:  I believe in you 

-The Pygmalion Effect by Dr. Robert Rosenthal tells us that our belief in a team member our child a student a player on a sports team has an actual of positive effect on their performance

-The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh

10.  Get more physically confident through Brazilian jiu-jitsu and cardiovascular exercise.  

11.  Differences of opinion should not be conducted over text message or email.   Grow up and pick up the phone or do it in person.

12.  Never show your doubts and fears.

-You can have doubts and fears, but you can never show them.  Work through them with your personal board of directors before you get in front of your people.

-Mentors, coaches, therapists, doctors, trusted friends and family members, spiritual advisors, personal trainers, etc.

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

Lanny Bassham—Olympic Gold Medalist On The Two Most Important Principles of Winning 

“If there's one thing I wish everybody would change that I've learned:  learn how to respond appropriately to what happens, because most people react.”  -Lanny Bassham, Olympic gold medalist

“95% of winning is done by the top 5%.  The top 5% are better at self-image.  Self-image is the difference between good and great.” -Lanny Bassham, Olympic gold medalist and author of “With Winning In Mind”

Lanny Bassham is an Olympic Gold Medalist and creator of the Mental Management System. Since 1976 Lanny has been teaching Mental Management® to Olympians, business owners, Fortune 500 Corporations and the elite of sport and business community. His clients include the PGA players, Miss America finalists, Miss USA winners, World and Olympic champions, Fortune 500 companies, The United States Secret Service, The US Navy SEALS, The United States Army and Marine Corps Marksmanship Units, and Olympic Teams worldwide.

https://mentalmanagement.com/

“With Winning In Mind” book

https://a.co/d/4dvzC2p

“Parenting Champions” book

https://a.co/d/1NOgfRs

Key Takeaways 

1.  If you want to win, talk to winners and find out what they’re doing 

2.  Success is 90% mental

3.  If you really want to do something well, find the best people you can and learn from them 

4.  Self-image is your opinion of whether you can do a thing or not

5.  Elite performers are incredibly positive individuals

6.  Elite performers respond, not react

7.  Every time you are positive, your self-image grows, every time you complain…you become that

8.  Make mental improvement a priority, and make it a priority as soon as possible 

9.  You have to know what winners know, find the best people you can 

10.  Understand how performance is generated:  conscious, subconscious, and self-image

11.  Learn the most optimal thoughts that produce high-performance 

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps ultra-successful people dramatically elevate their career and life. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

The Warrior’s Compass™:  Navigation Tools For Life’s Storms

“Whatever happens to me, given any situation, I can handle it! Never let these three little words out of your mind—possibly the three most important little words you’ll ever hear:  I’ll handle it.” -Dr. Susan Jeffers

Books recommendations 

1.  Relentless Solution Focus https://a.co/d/5SVHBBO 

2.  Learned Excellence https://a.co/d/gaPvIdp

3.  The Success Principles https://a.co/d/1YEB8Hp

ARMY

Ask For Help 

Relentless Solution Focus 

Mindful Breathing 

You Can Handle It

1.  Mindful Breathing 

-4-6 breathing (Dr. Eric Potterat)

-6-2-7 centering breath (Dr. Jason Selk)

-Physiological sigh (Dr. Andrew Huberman):  two inhales through the nose (one deep, one shorter) followed by a long exhale through the mouth

Mindful breathing lowers cortisol and activates the parasympathetic nervous system; studies show it reduces stress by up to 44% in just a few weeks of practice.

2.  You Can Handle It

Whatever happens to me, given any situation, I can handle it! Never let these three little words out of your mind—possibly the three most important little words you’ll ever hear:  I’ll handle it.  Dr. Susan Jeffers

Reminding yourself “I can handle it” builds stress resilience through self-efficacy; studies show high self-efficacy individuals experience 33% lower stress responses during challenging tasks.

3.  Relentless Solution Focus 

Relentless Solution Focus (RSF) is simply defined as within 60 seconds, replacing all negative thoughts with solution-focused thinking. Although simple in definition, at times this can be extremely difficult to do. RSF is mental toughness. They are one and the same. -Dr. Jason Selk

“What is one thing you can do right now to make this better?”-Dr. Jason Selk

“Keep moving forward. When you have problems, keep moving forward. Stay in the fight. Don’t ever let those problems win. Because there is always a solution. Always.” -Dr. Jason Selk

A positive mindset and relentless solution focus reframe challenges, boosting resilience and lowering cortisol; research shows optimistic thinkers experience up to 30% less stress-related distress.

4.   Ask for help from your Personal Board of Directors (mentors, coaches, therapists, doctors, spiritual advisors, trusted friends and family)

“If you can’t change something you want to change in 30 days…you need professional help to do so.”  Whether cleaning out your garage or clearing out your head.  -Dr. Alan Weiss

Forming a personal board of directors provides guidance, accountability, and social support; research shows strong support networks reduce stress levels by up to 50%.

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

How To Make Forgiveness Your Superpower Now And Forever (Starting Today)

The 3 Principles Of Forgiveness 
1.  Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle I know nothing about
2.  Everyone is doing their best they can with the knowledge and abilities they have.
3.  How am I that?

“If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this:  Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”  Dr. Stephen R. Covey

“Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle I know nothing about.”  -Wendy Mass

“You never want to beat yourself up about the past.  I always tell people:  you did the best you could with the awareness, skills, knowledge and tools you had at the time.  Everybody does. It’s also all the people that upset you; they are doing the best they can with the awareness, skills, knowledge and tools they have.  So we need to have compassion for them and ourselves“ -Jack Canfield 

“How am I that?  Only that which we cannot accept within ourselves do we find impossible to live with in others.  Think for a moment of someone you actively dislike.  What quality in that person do you find most objectionable?  Now ask yourself, “How am I that?”  -Dr. James Loehr, The Power Of Full Engagement 

“What would love do now?”  -Paul Chek

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

52 Words That Will Change Your Life 

Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle I know nothing about.  -Wendy Mass

Take 100% responsibility.  -Jack Canfield 

The right way is the hard way.  -Jerry Seinfeld

Event plus response equals outcome.   -Jack Canfield

I can handle it.  -Dr. Susan Jeffers

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  -Dr. Stephen R. Covey

How am I that?  -Dr. James Loehr

Relentless solution focus.  -Dr. Jason Selk

Recognize your done wells.  -Dr. Jason Selk

Be happy now.   -Dr. Marshall Goldsmith 

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo 

Send us Fan Mail

The 7 Secret Habits of the Happiest, Healthiest, Most Successful People 

The 7 Secret Habits

1.  Be the earliest person you know

2.  Never complain (or gossip or condemn or blame)

3.  Do regular cardiovascular exercise

4.  Read biographies

5.  Practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

6.  Say NO without apology

7.  Always let people know where they stand (the good and the bad)

Text me back with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

Send us Fan Mail

How To Create The New You In 10 Minutes With The Identity Code™️and Dream Day Protocol™️

The Identity Code:  The I Am Protocol

1.  3 Models/Heroes

2.  3 Words 

3.  3 Areas of Life (Health, Relationships, Work)

4.  3 Phrases (Mindset, Action, Goal)

5.  3 Questions

The Dream Day Protocol

Work

The work you do for a living and what a typical day looks like

How many hours per day and week you spend spend working 

Wealth 

What you earn per year to live your dream life

How much you save and invest per year

How much money you have in the bank for savings and retirement

Where you live

The house you live in

The car you drive

Relationships 

Who you spend the most time with (family and friends)

Health

Health metrics such as steps per day, hours exercised per week, how many resistance training days per week, minutes spent doing cardiovascular exercise per week, hours of sleep per night, waistline measurement, how much you weigh, calories eaten per day/week on average, stress levels on a 1 to 10 scale, etc.

Happiness 

What are your hobbies? (daily, weekly, monthly)

What you do for vacation and how often you do it 

Comment below with your number-one takeaway.

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify or iTunes.

Please like, share and subscribe if you find it useful!

I am a high-performance specialist and 7x author who helps successful people dramatically elevate their performance and achieve life-changing goals. My clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, doctors, law enforcement leaders, professional athletes and professional entertainers.

To work with me to dramatically improve your performance and transform your life, message me here or go to coachajmadden.com. 

#mindset #business #leadership #success #confidence #coaching #ceo