Start With A Win

On this episode of the Start With A Win podcast, we are joined by Kelly Contos, which gave Mark the perfect opportunity to practice his game show host skills during a lightning round of the Newlywed Game. You may be surprised to find out who looks better in glasses and who is the better singer!

When it comes to supporting Adam as the CEO of such a large and prominent company, Kelly says that her main objective is to be there for whatever he needs. Sometimes that means making sure he stays on schedule and gets from place to place, and sometimes that means noticing when he needs some human interaction and sending him to the office. Kelly knows how important Adam’s work is to him, but most important are the people around him, so she encourages him to lean into his team.

Adam and Kelly are both thankful for their health, the people they choose to spend life with, their freedoms, opportunities, and the successes that have resulted from those opportunities and hard work. 

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO
https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO
https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

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Physical energy comes from three places: nutrition, hydration and movement. If we want to show up and continue to be our best self both in our professional and personal lives, it's important that we prioritize all three!

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Business school classrooms and boardrooms alike are stacked with strategies for maximizing business success. But truly effective business models move beyond powerful planning into efficient execution. Franklin Covey—a global company that trains businesses in leadership development and individual effectiveness—teaches four major disciplines that help companies maximize execution. 

The first discipline is about focusing on what is most important. Narrowing the focus allows people to set achievable goals and delegate specific tasks. The second discipline is utilizing leverage to determine which tasks will produce the most desirable results. The third discipline of engagement is based on the premise that people will work to their maximum potential when they are part of the process of keeping score. Finally, the fourth discipline is focused on accountability. A regular system of vulnerable reflection and feedback builds an environment where all three previous disciplines are made possible. Implementing this intentional methodology to achieve personal and professional goals leads to lasting changes that build cultures of greatness. 

Main Topics

• Discipline 1: Narrow the focus (03:13)
• Discipline 2: Use leverage to determine lead measures (06:03)
• Discipline 3: Individual engagement (09:45)
• Discipline 4: Create a cadence of accountability (12:26)

Episode Links

• Adam’s Fool-Proof Time Management System
• The Four Disciplines of Execution from Franklin Covey

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

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The majority of challenges business owners face can be boiled down to a lack of communication surrounding expectations. One way to troubleshoot issues in business and personal relationships is by setting the stage with clear expectations for time commitments, scenarios, outcomes and goals. By providing clarity through helpful boundaries, business leaders can give their employees and customers more confidence and direction when it comes to production, collaboration, and the overall success of a project. 

Expectations prevent surprises. They make potentially difficult conversations easier because there are previous, foundational conversations to which people can refer. If people are given clear expectations from the beginning, they are less likely to feel defensive when it comes time to evaluate efficiency and productivity. Setting expectations for customers also gives them a sense of your own expertise, which in turn relays trust through transparency. This communication tool applies not only in business, but also in personal relationships and parenting. It’s important to set clear expectations, communicate often, and revisit those expectations again and again. Practicing this process for success eliminates many miscommunication issues so that time and energy can be spent elsewhere in more productive ways. 

Main Topics

• Setting the expectations to prevent confusion, lack of direction, and miscommunication (02:00)
• How setting the expectations helps us have potentially hard conversations (06:43)
• Establishing yourself as the expert (11:15)
• Appropriate expectations support long term goals (13:00)
• Kelly’s experience training for a fitness competition with a coach who helped her manage her expectations (15:20)
• A consistent communication regimen provides accountability (18:20)
• Apply the strategy to parenting (21:30)

Connect with Kelly:

https://www.facebook.com/kelly.contos.3

https://twitter.com/kellycontos

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellycontos/

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

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Want better results? Here's the secret: Get accountable! Accountability causes action with intention, and that creates results.

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Many popular self-help books promote the use of affirmations to help people change unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Dr. Noah St. John has spent the last 25 years teaching a different and more effective approach. Instead of using a disempowering “I am” statement that the brain immediately recognizes as false, he directs people to ask an empowering question that exemplifies who they want to be. By asking a question, the brain becomes engaged in finding the answer, thus creating a plan of action to achieve a specific goal. 

Noah’s strategy pushes people beyond magical thinking. The first step someone must take in order to live an empowered life is to gain clarity on what they actually want. Once the goal is clear, ask a question that confirms the goal has already been met. It is important to accept the truth of this new reality; in doing so, neural pathways in the brain are rewired towards a different end. Finally, the most important step is to take action based on the new reality created through powerful afformations. When people take responsibility for establishing new patterns of thinking and behaving, nothing can stand in their way on the path to a successful and fulfilling life. 

Main Topics:

• The difference between AFFORMATIONS vs. affirmations
• Working with the law of sowing and reaping
• Noah’s success with a client who lost over 200 pounds
• Lying to ourselves or rewiring neural pathways to create new realities?
• The Four A’s of Noah’s Afformations strategy

Episode Links

• Millionaire Afformations: The Magic Formula That Will Make You Rich by Dr. Noah St. John
• Noah's FREE training program for making more in 12 weeks than you made in the last 12 months

Connect with Noah:

https://www.youtube.com/user/noahstjohn

https://www.facebook.com/noahstjohnfan

https://www.instagram.com/noahstjohn/

https://twitter.com/noahstjohn

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

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Everyone is busy, but not everyone is productive. Time is a precious resource that many squander away on social media or mindless entertainment. Rather than being the victim of time, successful people view time as a currency which can be used intentionally to accomplish daily goals.

In order to gain clarity on how to most effectively use time, leaders and entrepreneurs must learn the value of saying no. Saying no to some opportunities frees up resources so that people can say yes to the things that matter.  Adam encourages listeners to document their use of time each day to create accountability. Use this data to reflect on how time is currently being used and set goals for increasing production. This is also a helpful tool for tracking an individual’s circadian rhythm, which is the internal clock that helps the body carry out its daily functions. Working with the body’s ebb and flow of energy allows people to make informed decisions for scheduling activities throughout the day. Establishing a schedule fuels productivity for those willing to consistently practice focus and willpower. 

Main Topics

• The difference between busy and productive (02:10)
• Harnessing the power of saying “No” (03:30)
• Utilizing a time audit system to evaluate daily time management (8:00)
• The importance of reflection and gratitude at the end of the day (13:34)
• Using your circadian rhythm to build an effective daily schedule (15:12)

Episode Links:

Adam’s Fool-Proof Time Management System

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

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How can we get to the results we want? It's simple. Better choices lead to better choices! And the more good choices you make, the better your results will be!

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

A lifetime of dedication to greatness has earned Army Veteran and entrepreneur Rick Hogg a multitude of accolades. As owner of War Hogg Tactical, Inc., co-author of The Firearms Training Notebook: 1% Better Everyday, and founder of In Honor of Duco Project, Rick proves himself a superachiever by setting an example of excellence.

Instead of being defined by his rank or position, Rick defines himself by his core values and encourages those in leadership positions to do the same. He has achieved his success through a daily commitment to setting goals and establishing a plan to accomplish them. In leadership, Rick teaches the power of repetition and the importance of fully supporting his team. In this way, they achieve greatness together through a common vision. But business isn’t the only area of life to which these principles apply. In order to be successful in one area, achievement must be a motivating factor at all levels, including physical fitness, family, and spirituality. One of the greatest lessons Rick has gleaned from a life of challenging, life-threatening situations is that each day is a gift and should be lived to the fullest. 

Main Topics

• The mindset of a superachiever (02:40)
• Using failure as an impetus for growth (05:55)
• Rick’s transition from soldier to entrepreneur (08:46)
• Building incremental gains into life and business (11:40)
• The importance of writing a daily plan of action (14:50)
• The Wheel of Life and the need for growth in all areas of life (21:38)

Episode Links

• Firearms Training Notebook: 1% Better Everyday
• In Honor of Duco Project

Connect with Rick:

https://www.warhogg.com/

https://www.instagram.com/warhoggtactical/

https://www.facebook.com/warhoggtactical

https://twitter.com/warhoggtactical

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

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As CEO of a 4th generation family business, elite triathlete and author Adam Hill has led his century-old family company through economic, cultural, and leadership changes on the path to long term sustainability. After overcoming more than a decade of alcoholism and unhealthy life habits, Adam transformed his inner fear and anxiety disorder into a superpower. Today he is a highly sought after international speaker and Amazon bestselling author of Shifting Gears: From Anxiety and Addiction to a Triathlon World Championship.

How can a crippling anxiety disorder actually be a superpower? Adam Hill has proven that his greatest weakness isn’t actually a weakness. Instead, he sees it as a launching pad into a life of inner healing and dynamic leadership. After years of using alcohol to cope with debilitating fear and anxiety, Adam bravely pursued recovery by asking himself how he could turn his inner enemy into his friend. By shifting his mindset, he now recognizes the value in using fear as an encouragement to lean into challenges. Constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone, Adam is able to have hard conversations with compassion and has built a team that transcends fear of the unknown into clarity in business. He encourages leaders and entrepreneurs to accept personal struggles as gifts. This shift from judgment to acceptance leads to growth and big wins, allowing people to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. 

Main Topics

• Coping with the cultural norms of anxiety and overstimulation (03:38)
• Using anxiety as a superpower and learning to “party with the beast” (05:40)
• How facing fears in leadership positively impacts business (09:26)
• Having difficult conversations with care increases confidence in leadership. (13:30)
• In his book, Adam uses his story to encourage others to courageously step into their power. (17:48)

Episode Links

• https://adamhilltri.com/
• Shifting Gears: From Anxiety and Addiction to a Triathlon World Championship by Adam Hill

Connect with Adam Hill:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TriFundracing

https://www.facebook.com/adam.hill.39982

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamchill/

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEO

https://twitter.com/AdamContosCEO

https://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

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Spotify

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