In today's episode we have Melissa Monte, she had a pretty normal life up until her teenage years. That's when her life began to take a downward spiral; raped in high school, her close friend committed suicide, her father died, she later found herself in a relationship with a sociopath. Her life could've easily made its way into a reality tv show.

Thankfully after hitting rock bottom, through making small changes after small changes, seeking out mentors and having a life changing realization - not to blame others for her current situation "her current situation is solely her responsibility" she was able to climb back up. Melissa today is an influential and thought -provoking explorer of mindset shifts and modern mindfulness.

On her popular podcast "Mind Love," she discusses from mindset shifts to modern mindfulness through raw stories, personal experience and inspiring interviews.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why blaming others never gets you anywhere
• Slow and small changes make a difference
• Denying a problem is never the solution 
• Support group and mentors are key to success
• and much more!!!!

Resources:   Book - The Gratitude Formula   Book - Peak Performers    Keep in touch with Melissa Monte:   Instagram: @mindlovepodcast @mindlovemelissa Twitter: @mindlovepodcast   Web: www.mindlove.com    www.melissamonte.com     Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:   www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua   Instagram: @the.top.performer

I today's episode *"Leading from the Heart the - the way to more Influence" we have a very interesting guest in Mark C. Crowley* spent over 25 years in the world of financial services, an environment known for its heartlessness.

Twice, he held national-level responsibilities – most recently as Senior Vice President-National Sales Manager at one of America's largest financial institutions, where he was named "Leader of the Year."

Throughout his journey he discovered is that his chosen management style was truly uncommon in business, yet extraordinarily productive.

Mark's people repeatedly went the extra mile for him while also delivering awesome performance…..he was intrigued by this and decided to leave the financial services world and devote himself to fully answering the question:

What happens inside of people that makes them fully committed to doing extraordinary work?

Resources: 

Four-radical-leadership-practices-that-will-dramatically-increase-engagement 

Keep in Touch with Mark C Crowley: 

http://markccrowley.com/

Facebook 

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Keep in Touch with Neal Antigua 

  www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua   Instagram: @the.top.performer

In today's episode we have writer, speaker and entrepreneur Dean Bokhari from MeaningfulHQ which is personal development blog and founder of FlashBooks - one of the largest non-fiction book summary publications in the world.  

He broke down crying because of how miserable he was in his job. He was lying to himself for sometime, but it ultimately caught up to him and he couldn't take it anymore....so he quit his job without having anything to fall on, which left him without money to pay bills. But it was a blessing in disguise because it pushed him and helped him find what he wanted to do. 

It sent him on a personal development journey filled with ups and downs....

In this episode you'll learn:

•  What it means to embark in a journey of personal development and what it could do to you

•  How growth will require you to sacrifice some things in your life 

•  Tips and tricks on how to read more books..what you think 700 books in 7 years

 

Resources:   Flashbooks - non-fiction summary publications    Keep in touch with Dean Bokhari:   Web: www.deanbokhari.com  www.meaningfulhq.com        Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:   www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua Instagram: @the.top.performer

In today's episode we won't have a guest. It will be a solo show were it will be me, myself and I and of course you the listener, in light of Thanksgiving I wanted to take some time to talk about being grateful.   I want to say thank you to each and every one of you listeners. Thank you for tuning in week in and week out. Be it during your commute, doing chores around the house, working out. I'm just thankful for bringing me along.  Honestly you the listeners motivate me to show up and make sure we put out new content every Monday.  Thank you for listening and thank you for pushing me.    Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:   www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua Instagram: @the.top.performer

Brandon Walden is a best selling author and a public speaker. However, more importantly, he is a husband and a father of 5 beautiful daughters. Brandon always dreamed of using his love of art, and desire to help people, by becoming an art therapist. However, upon graduating high school, Brandon found himself pursuing missions opportunities in third world countries to serve the poor and needy. This decision informed him greatly in his desire to serve the broken, but also completely changed his trajectory as a young man. For many years he'd often find himself traveling the world looking for serving opportunities.    Several years later he married his best friend, Stephanie. Then, years into marriage and having children, Brandon began a journey of healing and therapy from abuse he endured as a young boy. He's spent the past 6 years turning hurt into healing and pain into purpose. It was through this healing journey that he began to write his first children's book called, Seeds and Trees. It's a tale about the power of words (seeds). Brandon often says it's his story, cleverly disguised as a children's book. He and his wife formed The Treasured Tree, LLC. late in 2017 as a collaborative company creating resources for parents, teachers and therapist and families. Brandon's team is currently preparing curriculum that can be used in public schools and home schools across the nation based on the concepts presented in Seeds and Trees.    "Be careful what you water, for it will surely grow."   In this episode you'll learn:  

• The power of words 
• There's a cost for success and someone has to pay
• Your identity will influence the kind of decisions you'll make
• Our identity shouldn't be found in what we do  
• From a negative perspective, one of the things that have one of the greatest return on investment is that of sexual abused
• And so much more!!

  Resources:   Book: bit.ly/SeedsandTrees   Keep in touch with Brandon Walden:   Instagram: @brandonwalden & @seedsandtreesbook   Web: www.thetreasuredtree.com      Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:   www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua   Instagram: @the.top.performer

In today's episode we have Shay Eskew and his moving story....burn survivor with scars over 65% of his body ....was burned at the tender age of 8. Doctors wouldn't want him to participate in sports yet he was playing baseball shortly after he was released from the hospital. Shay is living testament to "Anything is Possible": 4x Ironman, 4x member of Team USA, ranked top 2% of Ironmen worldwide and has competed in 8 triathlon world championships, including the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. His mantra has always been to not merely be a "finisher" but to be a "competitor."This story it's really encouraging. A story of overcoming many obstacles and in spite of injuries he's succeeded at the toughest sports.

In this episode you'll learn: 

* How did he overcome these moments? 

* Over the course of 36 years had 35 surgeries

* He Pursued sports that didn't reward true athleticism but perseverance, grit and persistence. Sports that are not about who's the fastest but who slows down the least

* How he is able to compete in IRONMAN triathlons 

* In order to be mentally strong one ought to train the mind

* and much more 

Resources:

Book - What the Fire Ignited

Keep in touch with Shay Eskew:

http://www.shayeskew.com

Twitter: @ShayEskew

Linkedin: Shay Eskew  

Instagram: Shay Eskew

Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:    www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua   Instagram: The Top Performer

 

In today's episode "Bullet Journal Method and the art of intentional living" we have Ryder Carroll digital product designer, inventor of the bullet journal and author of the book "the bullet journal method". He's been featured in the New York Times, LA Times, Fast Co, Wall Street Journal and many others.    In this episode we talk about a nice range of topics:   

• The story of the bullet journal and how it came about 
• Productivity is only a means to an end 
• The need for us to slow down, take time, being intentional and much more....

Resources:   Book - The Bullet Journal Method    Keep in touch with Ryder Carroll:   www.bulletjournal.com   Instagram - Bullet Journal    Twitter: @rydercarroll   Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:    www.thetopperformer.net    Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Twitter: @NAntigua

In today's episode "Happily"8 Commitments of couples who laugh, love and last we have Kevin A Thompson Pastor, author of several books and conference speaker. He is lead pastor of a growing multi-site church in western Arkansas. Every year he meets with nearly one hundred couples with a range of needs, from premarital counseling to navigating the most serious betrayals.    In this episode you'll learn:   

• 8 commitments to improve your marriage and/or any other relationship
• Marriage is not easy but is simple
• People struggle with marriage because of pride, false expectations and more
• Successful marriage is not a flip of a coin, it's a flip of the will
• Having a successful marriage takes work 
• Love is not about feelings and emotions but about a decision 
• And much more

Resources: Book - Happily: 8 Commitments of Couples Who Laugh, Love and Last   Keep in touch with Kevin A Thompson: www.kevinathompson.com.  Twitter:@kevinathompson   Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:  www.thetopperformer.net  Questions, comments, suggestions via email Twitter: @NAntigua      

Having pulled herself up from poverty to being named one of Inc. magazine's top 40 entrepreneurs, has been writing Finding Joy full time for several years and writing online for over a decade. She has always had a passion for a daring, adventure-filled life and is often requested to speak and motivate others with her vivacious energy and deep belief that life is a gift.

Rachel is also a partner in Blogging Concentrated, the world's largest training and development company for bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters. She travels worldwide teaching marketing, voice, messaging, social media strategy and more. Rachel is a single mom of seven and lives in Tennessee.

 

In this episode you'll learn:   

• Need for moms to be ok to pursue their dreams and talents in the midst of motherhood. Get busy with everything that has to do with motherhood 
• It's a rally cry and linking arms as mothers and women to join together and march forward
• Reaching a goal is never in a straight line, but rather it's all over the place and messy. That's were a lot of us get stuck when it doesn't go linear/smooth/backwards. Sometimes to get around a mountain you need to go back and change directions
• Some doors are closed because they are meant to be brought down
• Successful people see problems as only speed bumps....and keep going
• Ask yourself the question: am I being foolish by persisting in knocking on a door that's closed or am I being foolish by doing what everybody else is doing?
• There will always be excuses to not do what needs to be done

And so much more.....

 

Resources:    The Brave Art of Motherhood    Keep in touch with Rachel:    Findingjoy.net  findingjoyblog/facebook braveartofmotherhood.com   Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:    www.thetopperformer.net  Questions, comments, suggestions via email

Craig Kulyk is the author of the blog Create Good Mornings. He writes about how to kick-start your day so you can achieve more of your goals, do your best work and skip burning yourself out along the way. Although, his relationship with mornings hasn't always been so rosy…. He used to be a morning grouch until 2012 when he started to experiment with different morning routines. Since then, he's tried more than 100 and has documented them in a post titled 127 Morning Rituals: The Ultimate List to Customize Your Morning Routine.    In this episode you'll learn:   

• What is a morning routine
• How to create a morning routine
• What are the benefits of having a morning routine and much more
• Creating good mornings
• You could have morning routines without being a morning person 
• Failure to take advantage of mornings, negatively affects the rest of the day
• Being a morning person is not necessary to creating morning routines 
• For effective morning routines, we ought to have intentions. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? 
• Developing a morning routine came out of the desire of being productive not necessarily a morning person  
• Customize your morning routine that works for you, your season of life, etc
• Morning routines are different for everyone
• Morning routine will change over time 
• What's a morning routine? 
• How long it should be
• We all have a "morning routine" we all do something during the morning time. 
• Setting up morning routines is like an accordion 
• How to set up morning routines
• Setting up morning routines could be aligned to the goals you want to accomplish? what you want to change? what you want to improve?
• Benefits of a morning routine
  • Increased productivity
  • Mindfullness
  • Reducing Stress
  • Finding space 

  Resources:  

• Power of Habits - Charles Duhigg 
• Deep Work - Carl Newport
• The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy
• Better than Before - Gretchen Rubin 
• The One Thing - Gary Keller 

  Keep in touch with Craig Kulyk:   https://www.creategoodmornings.com   127 Morning Rituals - The Ultimate List to Customize Your Morning Routine    Book give away      Keep in touch with Neal Antigua:    www.thetopperformer.net  Questions, comments, suggestions via email   Take away's from today's episode: 

• You could create a morning routine without being a morning person
• Morning routines are flexible 
• Craft a routine that works for you