Chris and Angela are back for episode 2 of The Slight Shift Show. They dive into the literal and metaphorical "shift" caused by a massive winter storm. While Chris enjoyed the powdery snow in New York, Angela found herself battling an "ice mountain" in Virginia.

Through a frustrating ordeal involving broken plows and unhelpful contractors, Angela shares a powerful realization. When the heavy sledgehammer fails, a slight shift in angle with a simple child's spade can lead to a massive breakthrough.

What lessons can we take away when uncertainty arrives?

Key Discussion Topics

• Preparation vs. Reality: Comparing the Northeast's readiness for snow versus the Mid-Atlantic's struggle with infrastructure and "ice-over" conditions. There's a lesson for all of us here…
• The Mindset Shift: Transforming anger into empowerment. Angela discusses how she moved from feeling "bamboozled" by contractors to being grateful for the opportunity to prove her own strength.
• The "Angle" of Success: A literal shift in the angle of a shovel served as a metaphor for professional and personal life. Sometimes, doing the same thing harder isn't the answer; you need a different technique.
• Human Decency & Acts of Kindness: A call to action for listeners to perform small, selfless acts and take responsibility for community well-being. Helping others during a significant weather event is a perfect example.

In this inaugural episode, highly regarded performance coaches, Chris Berlow and Angela Vahue introduce the "The Slight Shift Show."

Following in the footsteps of Chris's bestselling book You Have Infinite Power and their decades of building high performing teams and individuals, they follow the philosophy of "Be Better Every Day."

If you are an entrepreneur, a financial services professional, or a busy professional, high achiever or someone looking to take life and business to new levels, spend some time with Chris and Angela.

The Slight Shift Show focuses on the transformative power of micro-changes. Chris and Angela discuss how making small, conscious adjustments, and often choosing to do less, can lead to multidimensional success and a more fulfilling life.

Key Discussion Points:

• The Power of "Less": Why removing stress, decluttering your calendar, and "emptying your cup" creates the necessary capacity for growth.
• The "Shift" vs. the "Shit" Show: A humorous look at how minor shifts in perspective can turn a chaotic life into a purposeful one.
• Capacity & Recovery: Using the "EMOM" (Every Minute on the Minute) fitness analogy to highlight the importance of recuperation in high performance.
• The "Get To" Mindset: A powerful message on shifting your internal dialogue from "I have to" to "I get to" to instantly cultivate gratitude.

Hit the subscribe button and join Chris and Angela each week for an engaging episode with tons of value and actionable items you can implement one step at a time, in business and at home.

Coaches Chris and Paul speak to financial advisors and other busy professionals in this episode about raising your standards when the pressure rises.

They understand the pressure of Q4 for business professionals, entrepreneurs, and advisors. They challenge the common tendency to lower standards or cut corners under pressure and instead advocate for embracing pressure as an "invitation to level up."

The discussion draws a clear line between destructive stress and productive pressure, offering actionable strategies to help Financial advisors and others with demanding careers lean into the challenge, maintain focus, and refuse to compromise on their processes and core values to achieve their goals.

If you are a financial advisor or other busy professional looking to crush your end of the year goals, join Chris and Paul now!

Important Discussion Points

• Distinguishing Stress from Pressure: Chris and Paul emphasize that stress is destructive (leading to anxiety, fear, and doubt) while pressure is productive, building "muscle" and leading to growth.
• The Q4 Challenge: For advisors and entrepreneurs, the end of the year, Q4 often brings high pressure due to goals, quotas, and club levels. The hosts warn against "commission breath," rushing processes, or compromising the client experience.
• Embracing Pressure: Pressure should be viewed as an opportunity to rise and a test that reveals one's level of preparation, not an enemy or a punishment. "This is my chance to grow."
• Creating Non-Negotiables: Coach Chris advises listeners to create a list of non-negotiables to maintain balance across their lives, such as family, health, even when focusing intensely on career goals. Communication with family is key during these "turbo mode" seasons.
• Mindset and Alignment: Focus should be on mission over commission, process over product, and transformation over transactions. Pressure calls you to rise into your alignment, while stress pulls you out of it.

Be Better Every Day!

Join Coach Paul for an inspiring and high-energy solo episode focused on the core philosophy of "Be Better Every Day." Coach Paul dives into what this standard truly means.

Committing to just one degree or one percent of improvement daily, both personally and professionally.

He shares insights on why everyone is a leader, regardless of their title, and emphasizes the crucial role of continuous self-improvement and learning as the non-negotiable trait of all great leaders.

The episode encourages you to take ownership of your results, relinquish control to foster growth, and define your personal and organizational "Code of Honor" to raise standards and build a lasting legacy.

Key Discussion Points

• Be Better Every Day
• The core philosophy of striving for one percent better or one degree of improvement every single day.
• Perfection isn't the goal. Continuous improvement as a parent, spouse, business leader, or human is.
• Everyone is a Leader
• Leadership is a choice and a role everyone can play, no matter your chosen profession.
• Great leaders never stop working on themselves, embodying the saying, "big head falls over" always be learning and be a humble student.
• The Growth Mindset
• A true leader must continuously learn and hire coaches/mentors; if you're not growing, you're "dying."
• Team members are inspired when they see their leader never stop learning, developing a culture of continuous growth.
• Setting Your Code of Honor
• Leadership without standards is chaos; a leader must continuously drive the vision and standards.
• Your Code of Honor includes non-negotiables like discipline, respect, integrity, and ownership.
• Prioritizing fitness of mind and body as a non-negotiable part of being "you."
• Challenging Questions for Self-Reflection
• Coach Paul wraps up with questions to help you be more self aware.

Be Better Every Day!

In this high-energy episode, Coaches Paul and Chris dive into strategies for crushing your Quarter Four (Q4) goals. With the year rapidly drawing to a close, they discuss how to effectively shift into "turbo mode" without burning out or sacrificing other vital areas of your life.

Want to crush Q4? Be Better Every Day!

Learn how to leverage acceptance, communication, and proactive planning to maintain a sense of equilibrium while maximizing your professional output.

Discover the importance of establishing non-negotiables to work guilt-free and find out how a simple 50-day challenge can transform your productivity.

Key Discussion Points

• Q4 "Turbo Mode": Recognizing the limited window of time left in the year to achieve your goals and the need to push harder.
• The Three Pillars of Success:
• Acceptance: Acknowledging that increased effort and some sacrifices will be necessary.
• Communication: Proactively informing loved ones about the demanding work season to gain their support and understanding ("get grace").
• Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance (The 5 P's): Emphasizing the need for time blocking and advanced scheduling.
• Establishing Non-Negotiables: Prioritizing and pre-scheduling personal commitments (family, health, relationships) first to work guilt-free during focused work windows.
• And a ton more value!!

Come hang out with Chris and Paul and implement the concept of Be Better Every Day to crush Q4!

"Who do I need to become to live a happy, healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful life?"

That's what this powerful episode of the Balanced Warrior Podcast is all about.

Finding your moral compass.

Drawing from their work with business leaders in creating a "code of honor" for their organizations, Coaches Paul and Chris stress that this set of non-negotiable values is just as critical in our personal lives. Without one, we risk drifting, becoming distracted, and losing sight of the values that create peace, joy, and harmony.

Having a moral compass helps us be better every day and create a pathway to not just financial success, but multi-dimensional success and internal character growth.

Join Paul Melella and Chris Berlow, authors of the bestselling book You Have Infinite Power for a discussion about your moral compass.

Key Discussion Points

• The Necessity of a Moral Compass: Most people are chasing external success (money, status) but fail to define who they need to be to live a meaningful life.
• Defining a "Code of Honor": A code of honor is a set of non-negotiable values and principles a person or team commits to living by both professionally and personally.
• The Il Il Shin Philosophy…Be Better Ever Day: The discussion ties your moral compass to their mentor's principle, Il Il Shin (be better every day), which emphasizes small daily improvements in areas like respect, patience, love, and discipline.
• Internal vs. External Success: True, lasting success operates on the "Be, Do, Have" principle, starting with internal character development before external achievements.
• The Danger of Distraction and Low Awareness: External circumstances and social media can easily pull people from their center, emphasizing the need for discipline to focus on one's values and main priorities.

Coach Chris is back to discuss how to achieve multidimensional success, which is the process of thriving in the areas of life that are most important to you. In this episode of The Balanced Warrior Podcast, he shares concepts from their best-selling book book, You Have Infinite Power, which focuses on the seven levels of awareness.

Coach Chris challenges you to evaluate your own level of awareness and find ways to create that multidimensional success you crave!

Join Coach Chris as he unpacks one of the most important chapters of their bestselling book.

Awareness!

• Animal: The lowest level of awareness. This is a state of just surviving and existing, focused on meeting basic needs like food and shelter.
• The Masses: This is the level where most of society exists. People at this level follow what everyone else is doing without thinking for themselves.
• Understanding: At this level, you realize you want more out of life but are paralyzed by fear and worry about what others will think.
• Individual: This is when you identify your unique ability or specialty and have a strong desire to express it.
• Discipline: You have developed technical and physical skills to be an expert in your field. This is a level where you can begin to flourish in your career.
• Recondition: This is a level where you become mentally and emotionally connected to what you're doing and are driven by a worthy ideal or purpose. Your work becomes a mission rather than just a job.
• Disassociation: This is the highest and most difficult level of awareness to achieve. At this level, external circumstances and situations don't affect your internal peace. You can remain calm and centered, reacting rationally to life's challenges.

Welcome to the Balance Warrior Podcast for growth-focused pros and high-achievers!

In this episode, Coach Chris Berlow dives into a concept he's honed from working with thousands of people: the power of mindset. He shares a profound lesson that begins with understanding the 'stick man' diagram, a concept he learned from Bob Proctor, who had a direct lineage to Napoleon Hill.

Chris explains how our conscious and subconscious minds work, and how our thoughts ultimately drive our feelings, actions, and results. He introduces a simple yet powerful strategy to protect your mindset and change your reality.

Ready to spend some time building a growth mindset?

Here is some important advice from this episode:

• Mindset is Everything: Your mindset is the number one factor that will define your level of success, regardless of your age or profession.
• The Power of the 'Stick Man': The conscious mind can accept, reject, or neglect thoughts, while the subconscious mind can only accept them. Your body is a manifestation of your mind, and your feelings are a manifestation of your subconscious beliefs.
• Master the 'Yeah, But' Strategy: To prevent negative thoughts from taking root in your subconscious, immediately counter them with a positive "yeah, but" statement. For example, if you think, "I'm so far behind," counter it with, "Yeah, but I am currently crushing it."
• Protect Your Mindset: Your mindset is your most valuable asset. Use strategies like "yeah, but" to actively block negativity and protect your thought patterns, ensuring you don't take ownership of negative beliefs.
• Thoughts Drive Results: Remember the success formula: thoughts lead to feelings, which drive actions (or inactions), which ultimately produce your results. To change your results, you must first change your conscious thoughts.

If you are a high achiever and driven by the benefits of team dynamics, join the Balanced Warriors as they provide you with must-haves for building and growing a goal-driven team.

Michael Mertens and Chris Berlow share their unique perspective on building a successful business team. Drawing on their decades of experience as martial arts experts and multi-location business owners, they discuss how to cultivate leadership and teamwork.

The principles they share extend beyond the martial arts world and apply to any business owner seeking to cultivate a thriving, mission-driven team.

Do you want your team to be better every day? Join us now!

Key Takeaways & Actionable Advice

• Look Inward for Talent: Don't just hire externally. The best team members can often be developed from within your existing student or client base. Cultivate relationships with people who already believe in your mission.
• Establish a Progressive Training System: Create a clear path for growth. Just like a "farm team" in baseball, your business should have different levels of responsibility and training to progressively develop future leaders.
• Be a Mentor, Not a Boss: Maintain a relationship with your team that goes beyond a simple employee/employer dynamic. Continue to be their teacher and mentor, providing ongoing training and guidance. This fosters loyalty and mutual respect.
• Prioritize Mission over Money: Ensure your team is driven by a shared mission and a love for what they do. While fair compensation is essential, a deeper sense of purpose will inspire them to take ownership and go the extra mile.
• Lead by Example: Your actions speak volumes. Your team will reflect your passion, work ethic, and commitment to the company's mission. Be the "chief culture officer" and a role model for the behavior you want to see.
• Cultivate Team Cohesion: Create opportunities for your staff to bond outside of their daily tasks, like shared training sessions or team outings. This builds camaraderie and mutual respect, which is crucial for a strong team.

Be Better Every Day!

Welcome to the Balanced Warrior Podcast for high achievers! In this episode, Coach Michael and Coach Paul talk with entrepreneur and motivational speaker Matt Toresco. Matt, a former Division I athlete, shares his incredible journey of resilience and faith.

He opens up about a life-altering lacrosse injury that resulted in a broken neck and an 18-year battle with chronic pain and opiate addiction. He explains how his personal struggles led him to a deeper spiritual connection and the realization of his purpose in helping others.

This powerful discussion highlights the importance of overcoming adversity and finding your calling by being transparent about your struggles and paying your success forward.

Key Discussion Points:

• Matt recounts the moment he broke his neck on the field and the years of surgeries and daily pain that followed.
• He discusses the mental and emotional work he did to overcome his identity crisis and self-doubt, finding validation through his faith rather than external sources.
• Matt outlines his current daily routine, emphasizing the importance of setting small, achievable goals, prioritizing family, and taking care of his physical and mental health.
• He describes his current work as a patient advocate, using his personal experiences to help pharma and biotech companies improve the healthcare system for those facing similar barriers.
• The conversation concludes with a discussion on the power of transparency and how personal struggles can become a "superpower" to help others.

Be Better Every Day!