BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast - 304: Using Incredible Strength of Mindset to Succeed Despite Overwhelming Obstacles With Nick Santonastasso

Episode Date: November 15, 2018

If you’re looking to have your mind completely blown and walk away feeling like you can and WILL do anything, this show is for you! Today’s guest is inspirational figure, fitness model, and Vine sensation Nick Santonastasso.Nick shares his personal story and holds nothing back, describing how he’s overcome the difficulties of being born with Hanhart syndrome and the incredible mindset he’s developed along the way that led to him meeting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, becoming an online viral sensation (and scaring a character from The Walking Dead as a zombie), climbing a mountain despite the absence of three limbs, and more! Nick shares tons of actionable steps for overpowering fear, overcoming and adapting to any environment, harnessing the power of gratitude, and more than we can list here! If you’ve ever been stuck in a personal rut and want to find a way to establish a mindset that ALL real estate investors should be adopting, listen to this episode and share it with someone you love! In This Episode We Cover: Nick’s story and a life with Hanhart syndrome Changing your internal language The story behind the skateboard handstand The importance of having an authentic self The “must be nice” syndrome Thoughts on having a “massive footprint” Breaking down goals Modeling yourself on someone Gratitude and why it’s important Choosing empowering over disempowering thoughts And SO much more! Links from the Show BiggerPockets Forums BiggerPockets Webinars David’s Instagram Brandon’s Instagram BiggerPocket’s Instagram Books Mentioned in this Show Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki Victim to Victor by Nick Santonastasso Tweetable Topics: “The emotion of gratitude outweighs all emotions.” (Tweet This!) “Humans in general have the tendency to start with ‘cannot.'” (Tweet This!) “Everything in life is trial and error.” (Tweet This!) “The biggest disability you can have is a bad mindset.” (Tweet This!) Connect with Nick Nick’s Youtube Channel Nick’s Facebook Profile Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Bigger Pockets podcast show 304. So they escorted me over into a corner. Duane came up and the first thing you did, got on my level and high-fied me. He goes, dude, I'm such a big fan. And I'm like, I'm like trying to hold my inner friend girl in, right? I'm like freaking out. And, you know, he's like, can we get a picture?

And we took a picture. And I told him, I looked at him. I said, I told him all the things I was going to be doing. You know, at that time I was like, I'm going to write a book. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. And I told him, I looked him in his eyes. I said, I'm going to do what you did.

And he said, well, what do you mean by that? I said, well, you're the rock. I said, people knew you for football and then people knew you for WWE. And then you took over the world. Like, you're in every industry. You're crushing every industry. I said, I'm going to do that. And he looked me in my eyes.

He said, Nick, you're right. Because people like me and you, they put us in any industry and we adapt and overcome. You're listening to Bigger Pockets Radio. Simplifying Real Estate for investors large and small. If you're here looking to learn about real estate investing, without all the height. You're in the right place. Stay tuned and be sure to join the millions of others who have benefited from biggerpockets.com. Your home for real estate investing online. What's going on, everyone? This is Brandon with the Bigger Pockets podcast here with a wonderful assistant to the host, Mr. David Green.

I've just Vanne White at this point. David, how you doing? What are you meant up to? I know you're buying a real estate deal. Tell me about it. Well, I'm trying to. This whole point up to which we recorded the podcast, where I'm in negotiations with the wholesaler right now, trying to find a way to put a deal together and make it work. Nice. Nice. Well, good luck on that. You know, where's it at?

So the house is in Florida. Basically, he brought it to me. He gave me a number. He said the rehab should be X. When I went got my estimate, the rehab was Y. It was about 10,000 more for what I was getting. That never happens. Right, right, right.

And of course, that's 10K more now before once you started, it could grow even bigger. And I said, hey, man, sorry, I can't make it work. Thanks for bringing it to me. You know, please bring me your deals in the future. I'll give you an answer right away. So he's circling back a week later saying, hey, turns out I need to get this thing move really quick. Can you close in like five days?

Now, I already had the inspections done because I had those ordered when I was getting my rehab. So I know I just need clear title and I can buy it. So now we have to find a way to get the price closer where it'll work. So we looked at my rehab budget. He thinks he can do some of the work cheaper than what my guy was going to do it for. So he's going to handle the most expensive part of the rehab. And I know he has a good crew because I worked them. And we're lowering the price some.

So now we're getting really close to the number we want to be at. I think I'm going to put this one together. It's going to have an ARV of about 210 to 215 to 215. And I'm probably going to be all in for around like 150 to 160. It sounds like a burr deal to me. Yep, it's getting cold over here. Getting cold over here. All right.

Well, with that, let's get to today's show. Like I said, today's show is a little bit different. Today we have Nick Sontata. Every time I butcher his last name, Nick Sontas. You do it. Santanasaso. Santonostoso. Santhanasoso.

I'm a little Italian and Nick's Italian. So we just have like an advantage over you. You look like you're a Viking from Norway. I'm a Viking from Norway. So Nick is a guy, me and David, or David and I met at a conference recently. And just both thought he was just fantastic. Nick was born with a syndrome, which he'll talk about in the show, but he was born with no legs and only one arm. And even on that arm, he's got only one finger on that arm.

So he talks about that experience, how he had a very low chance of survival to begin with, and how he's, I guess, grown to be a super inspiring, very motivating, I guess, individual speaker, author. He's got a new book coming out. And he was like, just a fantastic guy. And the reason we wanted him here on the Bigger Pockets podcast, obviously a real estate show, is because the stuff he talks about, the mindset changes are something that every, almost every newbie, like, and not even newbie, right, experience people. I face the stuff as well, right?

Like these things hold us back. And if you can break through these mindset things, it'll push you so much further. So we don't go into real estate at all. I mean, this might be the first show. We haven't even mentioned the word real estate. I don't. Well, I guess we did give some examples. But this show, like, you need to listen to this show.

Plus, his stories are just amazing. Like, he met the rock and he got to scare, dress up as a zombie and scare the guy from the walking dead, the motorcycle guy. And yeah, it's just super cool. You guys are loving it. Nick, Nick is all about leveling. And if you're a newbie to you, leveling up is getting your first deal, your first couple deals. If you're an experienced investor, leveling up is getting out of your business and making it run

more passively or getting more deals. Whatever your issue is, growth is your friend. And Nick is all about how you master the art of growing and creating this mindset. Like, that's what his superpower is, is this guy, when you get done listening to him, you walk away knowing I can do anything. I can do anything that I want. And you're not thinking thoughts that are contrary to that. So you've got to listen to this episode. You probably want to share it with some friends. right? Like, no matter who you are when you hear Nick speak, you will feel different about yourself and your odds for the change that you're looking for. There you go. Love it. I have an uncomfortable question for you. If your rent collection drop to 80% next month, how long would your cash flow

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And listeners of the show will get a $75-sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash rookie. Just go to Indeed.com slash rookie right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash rookie. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. All right. With that, let's get to the show with Nick. I don't want to waste any more time in this introduction. So let's bring him in. All right, Nick, welcome to the Bigger Pockets podcast. Good to see you again. Thank you for the opportunity, brother. I'm happy to be here. All right, Nick. So before we go any further into the show and hear your story, I want you to teach me how to say your

last name because I stumble every time. How do I do that? Got it. So it's Santinastaso. I'm not going to get that. Does that help? Santonastaso. Yeah.

Hey, look at that. Try David. Five times fast. Go. San Saninistaso. San Sanstasso. Santonistaso. Santonistasoso.

He's a pro. Is it pretty impressive. Is it Italian in nature? Yeah, it's Italian. Okay. So does it help if you like make the Italian hand when you say it? Is that like, because that's what I was doing under the desk. That's why I got him out so fast.

Oh, it's a secret. That's funny. The Santernastasso. Yeah, there you go. All right. So we're, okay, so now we got your last name nailed down, and I'm probably going to butcher that when I record the intro and later, but whatever. Let's go into your story a little bit here about, you know, who are you, why you,

I mean, why are we talking to you today? Tell us about your story. Yeah. So I'm Nick Santonasto. I'm 22 years old and I was born in New Jersey. And so in 1996, when my mom was pregnant with me, it was her last pregnancy. And so everything was going fine. You know, they went in for the first ultrasound.

It was great. Second ultrasound was great. And then they went in for, you know, a late ultrasound. And basically, you know, they sat my parents down, pulled the baby up on the screen. And, you know, the doctor started having like a puzzled look on their face. And my parents like, you know, what's going on? And they said, well, from the looks of it, it doesn't look like your baby's limbs are being developed. It looks like his legs are missing.

his arm, he might have a cleft palate. You know, they started listing a, you know, a bunch of these things that could have been the case. And in that moment, it's crazy. In that moment, my parents looked at each other and, you know, they said, we're going to see where life takes this kid. We're going to focus on the 30% and not that 70% because they actually gave me a 30% chance to live.

And, you know, that's what I always tell people. I'm like, we have that same choice as my parents in life. And that's like, are you going to focus on the good in life or are you going to focus on the bad? and which focusing on the bad will never serve you in any situation. And so, you know, they said Mr. and Mrs. Santadastasso, it looks like he has about 30% chance to live because they diagnosed me with Hanheart syndrome. And what hand heart syndrome is is a super rare genetic disorder that either leaves the babies with undeveloped limbs or undeveloped organs. And so at the time of my birth in 1996, I was the 12th baby in medical history that they've ever seen this happen to.

And so out of the 12, eight of them have passed away due to undeveloped organs. And so, you know, the baby's born and they can't breathe on their own, can't eat on their own, and they later on pass away. And so I was born. They immediately did test on my organs and they came back 100% healthy. The only thing that was affected were my limbs. And that's kind of like, you know, where I talk about living in a state of gratitude and how that can literally change your life. And, you know, as a 20-year-old dude now, you know, I think about the rare chance of just being a human. And then the fact that, like, I made it through like something that was like 30% chance to live.

And so I always tell people that my tribe, my guys, every time when we wake up, we think about five things were great before. We write them down because the emotion of gratitude outweighs all the negative emotions. And what I mean by that is like, it is emotionally impossible for you to feel grateful and sad at the same time or grateful and mad because that emotion of gratitude is just so heavy and outweighs all the negative emotions. And so as soon as I was born, the doctors basically handed over a list to my parents, especially back then when, you know, being being born. and disabled, like it wasn't very, you know, it was frowned, it was, like, things were shunned and they were hidden. And so it was a weird time, you know, in the world. And so they handed over this list to my parents and were like, here, here's all the things your son won't be able to do. And, you know,

it was just a list of like, your son can't, you know, feed himself, dress himself. And basically, you know, told my parents they'd be a big baby. And that's why I'm super grateful for the way my parents reacted, because that's all life is, is how you react the situations. And they were like, thanks, but no thanks. You know, I'm not going to, regardless of if you're a professional, I'm not going to let you put limits on my son and, you know, already see what he's capable of doing. I'm going to go see what he's capable of doing. You know, if I could jump in real quick, I just, I want to pull up this point there. I think it's interesting.

You know, yeah, they gave you a list, your parents a list of things that you would not be able to do. But like, I totally can translate that to almost everybody in life has like these things that are like predefined, right? Like, oh, you're, you were born in a poor area. You can't become wealthy. Or, hey, you were born with, you know, whatever, you were born in this family. or in this country or with this limitation of some kind. Hey, that kid has a learning disability and, you know, he's clearly not going to make it anywhere.

I just think that's interesting, like the way your parents were just like, yeah, thanks, but no thanks. Like, we're not going to let somebody else to find, you know, what our kid is going to do or not do. You know, and I wish more people thought about that in life. Yeah, absolutely, right? Because people, people are primed and programmed through, like, their environment, right? Like, if you have a school that's run down and, you know,

not much is going on. And the teachers don't even believe in the kids. The kids feel like, you know, that no one believes in them. And, you know, I think the important part about that is, like, people need to realize that, like, no one's going to save you, only you're going to save you. Like, only you can get yourself out of whatever hole you're in. Like, no one's coming to save you. And that's what, you know, I kind of realize that, like, I'll get into that when I was

at my lowest point. But, like, like, kids go through school and, you know, say their schools run down and they don't even see the school getting fixed up because no one cares. They think that they're just like not going to go anywhere in life, right? Because it's crazy. It's our environment and everything around us that programs us to have those like limiting beliefs. And so, yeah, so my parents were like, thanks, but no thanks. And the one thing, the way they raised me is super crazy. And I'm super grateful for it. So basically from the earliest of ages, my parents sat me down in the most polite way and said, Nick, the world's not going to stop for you because you're born like this. You know, like this happened. But like you got to keep moving forward. Things are going to be. hard and they're going to take more time than other kids. But like you're not giving up. Like you're not feeling sorry for yourself. And so they, in the most polite way, like I said, they would put things in front of me. And so, for example, they'd put my clothes in front of me and say, all right, Nick, like, try to figure it out. Or they put, you know, put me in my high chair and they put food in front of me with a

utensil and say, all right, Nick, figure it out. And, you know, I always tell people and I ask parents, I'm like, now you can sit here and self-reflect and ask yourself, are you doing too much for your kids? Like, are you, are you letting your kids get away with too much? You know, are you not letting them fall on their face, you know, because by my parents simply putting these trials and tribulations in front of me and letting me fall on my face at an early age, it got my mindset in the rhythm of, okay, it's not can't, but it's how. You know, things are going to be hard. Things are going to take more time. But it's like, how am I going to run through this obstacle? How am I going to break through this barrier? And I think that is the same exact mindset. That's not just a

Nick mindset, that's a mindset everybody needs to have, right? Like, you know, things get hard. Life gets fast. We get, we get, like, overwhelmed by challenges of what we have in front of us, right? But, like, you need to stop and be like, okay, how am I going to get through this? Because not only entrepreneurs, but humans in general, they have the tendency to start with can't. So what I mean by that is someone says, like, if you go up to someone and say, well, I'm going to do this, their immediately reaction is to say, oh, well, you can't do it because this, this and this and this. Well, that doesn't empower you. That doesn't do anything for you.

It's not going to get you anywhere. So why don't you start listing all the reasons why you can or how you can. That's more empowering. And I think people like, they shoot themselves in the foot right off the like, you know, the finish line. But just like saying, oh, well, this is going to happen and I can't do this, right? It's just like the way you look at it. Yeah, that's. And so there's a book out there called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, that I'm a huge fan.

A lot of people on the show talk about it, right? Yeah, so Kiyosaki in that book, one of the most life-changing things I ever read was when I was May 21, 22. And he said in the book, Rich Dad, Port Ed, that poor people say, I can't afford it. And wealthy people or rich people say, ask, how do I afford it? Right. And that, like, when I read that, I was like, he's so right. Like, my entire life, I've said, and it's not just about money, right? It's about everything.

It's like, some people say I can't and some people ask how. And I think if there's, like, one thing I could, like, narrow my entire life down to, like, that's made probably the biggest impact. It's like that little phrases. Instead of saying I can't, it's how can I? I love that. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think the same thing with like changing your language, right?

Like people don't realize how much they say can't. And so when you hear yourself say can't, like change that. I had someone in a call yesterday, he was like, I'm not creative. And I told him, I said, well, instead of keep telling yourself you're not creative, just say you're getting better at being creative each and every day. Like give yourself something empowered, you know, because if you always have, tell yourself you're stupid, you're probably right, you know, but if you give yourself a, you know, a better meaning, it empowers you to go ahead and, you know, get more creative or learn more.

And so, yeah, so growing up, you know, my parents threw me on a bunch of things. And I have a funny story. One of the things they threw at me at the early age was a skateboard. And so they put me on a skateboard on my stomach and I always compare skateboarding to life because, like, if you're not growing, you're dying. Like, if you're not trying to get better, if you're not trying to move forward, like, what are you doing? And so they put me on a skateboard on my stomach. and I was riding it like a skateboard.

And then like we're entrepreneurs, we're hustlers. We always want more, right? And so Nick finally realized if I sat upright, I could get much more momentum. You know, I could get much more momentum and speed. And then finally, that's not enough. And so after a long day of skateboarding, I said, hey, mom and dad come outside. I learned a trick. And my mom was like, oh, God, you know, what now, Nick?

And so I brought them outside. And, you know, I kept them at the bottom of hill. And I rode my skateboard all the way to the top of the hill. I'm like, mom and dad, you're ready? And so I come flying down. Hill and right when I get to him, I pop up on a handstand and my face is like two inches from the pavement and they're like, oh my God. And I'm like, did you see that? And like, they're like freaking out like, dude, you're crazy. And the reason why I say that is because when I posted that picture

of the handstand when I was a young kid, it was like a more iconic picture. But what people currently see was the handstand. They didn't see how many times Nick fell in his face trying to do that handstand. And that's the same thing in life because we all look up to entrepreneurs. We all look up to businessman. We all look up to actors, DJs, whatever it may be, but what we currently see is where they are currently, their current success. We didn't see how many times they were told no, how many times they were denied or told they weren't good enough, pretty enough, whatever it may be. And so that's what I tell people, like, we're all going through this journey of life, the ups and downs. And like, my advice to you is like, embrace the journey. Like, the beauty

behind life is the contrast of life. If we were put on this earth and everything was easy, we'd be like, wow, this is really boring. And so in those times of hardship and those times of like, man, like, this is uncomfortable. This is, this is scaring me. Like, embrace that because that means like there's some massive personal growth to come ahead. And that means you're out of your comfort zone and you're growing. Like, and so when things are kind of boring and they're stagnant, like, get out of that. Like, that's your key to like, okay, I need something that's going to start pivoting me or start growing. And so before middle school, I didn't realize I was different. I didn't realize this package I had going on. I was just, you know, a young

kid living life. And then I got in the middle school and in high school. But middle school, I think, we can agree that like that's probably one of the most judgmental times. Yeah, that's one of the most judgmental. Yeah, the most judgmental times of our lives. And if you have kids, your kids' lives. And so I got into middle school and it was a big, it was a big slap in the face for me. And what I mean by that is like, I realized the kids, you know, the little teasing. I never got bullied, but there was always, you know, little teasing. I was like, you know, throwing names. I realized that although I wasn't any slower mentally, but because I had someone pushing me in a wheelchair and someone sitting with me in class that, you know, kids correlated with me, correlated me with being

slow. And, you know, I was just out of shape. I was depressed. And I was a kid that thought you were either born with confidence or you didn't have it. I thought it was just, you know, acquired through birth or you didn't have it. So that was one of my limiting beliefs, right, was like, I'm not confident. I'll never have confidence. And at a very low point in my life, I didn't, I didn't want to go in public. I didn't want to look into a mirror. I was, I was like absolutely disgusted with my body. I was at like my rock bottom. And, you know, some of the thoughts that going through my head that like my best way out was to take my life that I didn't I was so disgusted and so uncomfortable with my body that like it's not worth it and you know I got I was going into high

school and in my family in my family and in public I feel and still to this day I'm the glue like I'm that positive figure like if everyone's having a bad day they call Nick and they you know they want Nick to talk and so I feel like I had this role even from an early age and so when I was at this low point of my life I put on a mass because I knew that that just a simple smile from myself would change someone, right? Just change their demeanor. So I got in a freshman year and I'm at like my all low. Like I need to figure out a way to dig myself out of this hole.

And that's what I was saying before that I realized like no one's coming to save me. I'm like Nick, like no one's coming to save you. The only person that's going to make a drastic change of your life, whether that's physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually is you. Like no one's going to dig you out of this hole. And so my best friend, Dan, we're still best friends to this day. my freshman year. He wrestled his whole entire life and don't ask me why, but his freshman year, he decided to be a bowler. So it was like, it was like really black, a white, super different.

And he comes up to me and he goes, Nick, you know, you try new things. You can do bowling. All you got to do is roll the ball down the lane. And then when you come back, you get to eat cheese fries. It's really easy. And I'm like, dude, I'm in. Like, I'm Italian. I'm all about food. So anything that's got to do with food, I'm in. And so I was like, all right, Dan, I'll try it for the bowling team, right? because I'm looking for something. I'm looking for support. I'm looking for an extracurricular activity. I'm looking for a sport that is going to just help elevate me.

Help elevate my confidence, make me feel better about myself. And so I always tell people, I'm from New Jersey. You have your JV sports and you have your varsity sports. So your JV's not your starting lineup. And your varsity is your starting lineup. And so our varsity team were studs. And our JV team, our JV bowling team was undefeated until Nick joined the team. I joined the team.

I gave our bowling team our first. loss and I soon realized that, you know, bowling wasn't for me. I wanted to push myself, you know, more physically and mentally. And so I was going in the sophomore year. And my older brother, who was about six years older than me, he wrestled for my high school. And in New Jersey, wrestling's like a big deal. It's like, it's like football in some places. It's huge. And so I always like looked up to wrestlers. I thought they were just the coolest thing ever. And so my sophomore year, Dan went back to wrestling like he should have. And all my other best friends were stud wrestlers from my high school and they were like, Nick, you know, you always try new things.

That's one thing we could give to. You always try new things. You always get out of your comfort zone. Why don't you try wrestling? And I said, I can't. I started with can immediately. And the reason why I started with can't is because this arm, this limb was about five inches longer than it is now. And my bone was growing faster than my skin. So it was like your finger, but super sensitive. And I couldn't touch it on things. I couldn't really touch it on things. I would tuck my arm in. and because the bottom line is, if I would have hit my arm hard enough, my bone would have came through my skin. And so, you know, I was like, oh, I can't wrestle, you know, my arm.

And then, you know, I started marinating on this thought. I started marinating. And I was like, well, you know, I'm at this low point. I don't feel confident. I feel disgusted in my skin. And wrestlers are the coolest thing in my life. Like, that's what I think the coolest thing is, if I could be a part of the team, if I could be with my boys, you know, even if that's in the wrestling room or, you know,

rolling around the hallway, you know, just with the wrestlers. Like, that would make me feel better by myself. And so I came home one day. I waited for both my parents to come home. And, you know, my parents supported me and everything and anything I wanted to do. But this was a little bit different. And so I sat them down. I said, Mom and Dad, I want to be a wrestler.

And, you know, my mom was like, oh, no, Nick. You know, God forbid, you know, wrestling's the most physical sport. You know, what if you're on the mat? You hit your arm. Your bone comes to your skin. What are you going to do then? And here I am a 16, 17-year-old kid. I looked at them.

I said, can we cut it off? And they said, what? and I said, yeah, can we cut it off? And they said, Nick, first off, the right term is amputation. You're so aggressive with your terms. It's not cut off. It's amputate. So I'm like, all right, can we amputate my arm?

And they're like, Nick, is this something that you really want to do? And I'm like, yes, like, this has the opportunity to instill more confidence. And the funny thing is I never told my parents I was at that low point, right? Because I didn't want, I knew that that would affect them negatively. And I didn't want that to happen. So I was like, yes, like, this would just make me feel better about myself. I want to do it. And, you know, that's what I always tell people, like, whether you're trying to become, you know, a better real estate agent or a better investor or building a business or a better husband, a wife, whatever you are focusing your energy on, you need to give it 110% effort or you're literally selling yourself short. It sounds mainstream. It sounds cliche, but like that's the real deal. And I always tell people, I like cars. So if you treat your body like a Ferrari, if you look at yourself as a Ferrari and you're putting, you know, regular gas,

to a Ferrari, how is that Ferrari supposed to perform? It's not going to perform like a regular Ferrari. You got to put the right fuels, you've got to do the right things, so you can operate at that high level. And so I tell people, like, whatever I'm focusing my energy, I'm all in. Like, I'm fully invested. And so with a couple hours of persuasion, my parents were like, all right, if this is something that you really want to do,

we'll find, you know, a doctor to do the amputation. So my sophomore year of high school, we scheduled the amputation. And what they did was they lasered five inches of my bone off, and they did a skin graft. So basically they pulled extra skin from up on up here and pulled it over so I can have cushion. And I remember telling the doctor, I'm like, Doc, like if I come out of the surgery and I can't beat someone over the head with this, we're going to have a problem.

Like I'm going to need to be able to beat someone up with this. And so I come out of surgery. Everything went well. And, you know, I was super pumped up, you know, because this was my next moment to become a wrestler. And I swear I always tell people, I was the happiest kid that just cut his arm off. I went to high school. I was, you know, pumped up.

And people are like, dude, like, why did you cut your arm off? And I'm like, I'm going to become a wrestler. And people laughed at me. You know, they laughed at me. And we're like, dude, let's be real wrestler, let alone an athlete. How are you going to do that? You have no legs of one arm. And that's what I always tell people that we're always going to have the outside noise.

Like, right? Even that list, the doctors handed over to my parents that was outside noise. And then when I got the middle school, that was outside noise. And then when people told me I couldn't be a wrestler, that's outside noise. We all have it. We all have outside noise. But we have that same choice. Are we going to let the outside noise sink us or elevate us?

Are we going to use it as fuel? And that's the one thing that I'm super grateful I picked up on in the early age was like, okay, well, if these kids are going to make fun of me and call me names, I'm going to use it as motivation. And so my junior year, I tried out for my wrestling team. I was JV. I got my butt kicked. My only win was my coach putting me out for a varsity forfeit so I can get my varsity

jacket. I was like, thanks, dude, I don't want it. I didn't earn it. I don't care. And I want to get it legit. In my senior year, through just figuring out how I can become the best wrestler I could possibly be, how I can use my head as another arm, another line of defense, just these little nitty-gritty things. My senior year, I came out as Central Regional's 106-pound varsity wrestler from my high school.

And I'm still in this stage of like why. I'm in this victimhood of why? Why me? There's millions of people born. Why do I have to be born like this? Why do I have to go through these challenges? Why do people have to make fun of me? I'm trying to find my why.

And that's kind of like my whole message here, especially with my book, which we'll talk about later, is like how to go from victim mentality to victim to victor. Like how to how to become victorious in your life, how to become victorious in each and every event and how to cultivate that victorious mindset. And that's what I always tell people like, you look at me, a kid, you know, a guy with no legs and what arm, and you're like, how can I relate? And I always tell people physically, you probably can. I'm good looking. I have muscles. And, you know, people like, oh, you know, my God. But in reality, we all have the ability to cultivate a mindset, right? We all have a mindset. And so it's funny, but that's what people want to know is how Nick thinks. And so wrestling saved my life.

And what I mean by that is I was 2 and 17 my senior year, but that was two more wins I got the previous year. And that's what we call progress. That's what we call winning. As long as we're moving forward each and every day, we're winning. And so I would have gymnasiums pack to Waspey wrestle, which I didn't understand. I'm like, I'm not that good. And then even when I lost, I would get standing ovations and would piss me off because I'm competitive.

I'm like, why are you clapping for me? I just got my butt kicked. And I came off the mat one time. And this lady came out to me crying. And I'm like, oh, my God, you know, what did I do wrong? And she gets that on my level. And she's like, Nick, I want to thank you. And, you know, here I am a 17, 18 year old kid.

I'm like, for what? I just got my butt kick lady. And she's like, my daughter's over there on the sideline. And she never wanted to do a sport. She never wanted to do an extracurricular activity. and she saw you out there wrestling. She asked me to try these things. She asked me to try new sports.

She wants to sign up for track and field. Like you broke the barrier. You did something as a parent that I couldn't do. I want to thank you. And my mind just like exploded. I'm like, oh my God, you know,

because I was on the map for myself. Like I was trying to dig myself out of a hole. And I was motivating people passively. I was like, well, imagine how many lives I could change, how many perspectives I could change for the better if I focused my energy and helping people.

I thought it was just like the most, wild thing that could happen. And it was also like a realization that all the things that I thought were negative and disgusting about myself turned out to be my biggest empowerment, my biggest influence, my biggest tools of good. And that's the kind of like the message to people is like, like the best thing you could be and the most attractive thing you could be is yourself, your authentic self. And by you being your authentic self is like you're going to you're going attract the right tribe. You're going to attract the right support team, the people that love you for you and support you for you. And the tattoo on my bicep, it's probably upside down to the screen,

but it says, you laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same. I love that. Thank you. That's not just a dick quote. That's like an everyone quote. Like, be your authentic self, like the best thing you can be, right? Like not putting a mask on. So when you started off this conversation, you mentioned that there was things about you that just disgusted you. When you looked at yourself, you didn't like your body, you didn't like who you were. and it got so bad you were even thinking about not wanting to be on the earth. And now you've mentioned that some of the things that you hated about yourself the most became the most empowering things about you and what you're doing in life. And I've often noticed that maybe not to the degree of

severity that you described, but our biggest frustrations can become our biggest fuel. You know, like the thing that you're just like, oh, I just wish it was different when you finally get it figured out becomes a strength of people and they take it really far. And as you're talking, I'm thinking that a lot of people would look at Nick and say, well, life wasn't fair to him. He hasn't, it was, you know, he's coming from behind trying to catch up. But what you're describing, like, you have an edge over a lot of people because you went through so many tough things in life that you became stronger. And now when a hurdle gets set in front of you or a challenge get set in front of you, you're just like, that's nothing. I can, I can knock that down easily.

Where for people that are like newbies wanting to invest in real estate, see that hurdle as Mount Everest. Like, how could I ever get over that? And you're laughing at it, which might be a good segue for you to tell us about the mountain that you've already climbed and like the fitness goals that you set for yourself. But have you spent much time thinking about that where you look at other people maybe with a little bit of pity like you've had such an easy life that little things feel so hard for you. So it's funny you brought that. I was just talking about this conversation and because I myself, I was in a conversation. I was like I described it as the unicorn factor. I'm a unicorn. So like, you know, in the industry is like I stand out. And if I do something like crazy,

like people pick on. But, you know, so I told people, yeah, I may, I may have an edge. And then someone said, well, if someone's sitting here and saying, well, Nick had an edge, right? Or he had this. That's just like kind of like a cope. So it kind of makes them feel better about the stuff that they're not doing. You know what I'm saying? And so when people are like, well, Nick had disadvantages and he got over that, okay, well, what are the disadvantages that you're complaining about that you're not getting over, you know? And so I just wanted to make that point real quick because I, I I did even think about it. Go ahead. Well, I was to say, I call that the must be nice syndrome, right?

Like, oh, yeah, must be nice to have been raised in a family with this. Must be nice to have gotten that, you know. Yeah, everyone's hope. Yeah, it's a Kobe. Exactly. I love that. Yeah. And real quick, to go back on, to go back on what you said about hurdles, I don't look, you know,

I don't look at, like, I don't give people, like, pity. Like, I don't feel, I don't feel bad for people, but I never, like, shame people or, like, look down on people because the thing about, you know, judgment is like you would you never know if you would be in the same position as that person if you walk through their whole entire life in their shoes you know so like that's how I eliminate judging like my whole entire life like if you came up to me and like called me a name I'd be like well maybe I would call myself that name if I've lived his his body you know that all that years but yeah I think like you're right with the people looking at like a challenge as you know Mount

Everest I think it's just they haven't built their muscle yet and what I mean by that and which say can also take comfort in because a muscle you always build it like you're always working on it right a skill a muscle i think it's just the muscle of like having something coming front of you like a barrier coming front of you like okay like like like i said how how am i going to run through this and and when you get in that that that like rhythm of okay well i'm running through barriers now i'm kind of on this snowball but i think people just need to start by doing like you know little things that are uncomfortable like start with little challenges that you you know that are tedious that you don't like to do or when you wake up like the the five things that you don't want to do do them first like do them

first like do the things that you don't want to do first because after that you'll be like like you'll be just on this on this like boost of energy right this just a snowball of like I'm crushing things and you know as humans like we tend to like you're like like like said cope and like find ways to like get out of the things that we want to do and so if you're always that person that is getting out of the things that you don't want to do or diverting your energy to something else you're not going to build that muscle. So my advice is to people is like, do like the tedious, like the BS things that you don't want to do that.

You know we're going to move you forward, but you know it's going to take too much every time or that you don't want to do. Like, start building that muscle. I think that's just a huge perspective shift for people and an empowering perspective shift is like realizing like take a sense of comfort that it's a muscle. And like you're not just going to wake up one day and be like, ah, I can run through every wall, you know, like you got to work on yourself. Well, that's why coping, those copes that you talk about are so dangerous, right?

because it's basically your way of talking yourself out of going to the gym that day. You're losing that opportunity to work on that strength when you're like, oh, it must be nice to be able to fill in the blank, whatever. You're giving yourself permission to not go work out to not solve that problem. And you're really cheating yourself. And that's what I love about how you're just brutally honest about that fact is that if I remove all these copes, I have to work through these problems. I'm going to get stronger than you.

Absolutely. Yeah. So that's what I just tell people. I'm like, there's a lot of things in your life that you, you sit here and we think about it. You're like, I don't think I'm ready, right? We can all sit here and be like, man, there's a lot of things that are like, you don't think I'm ready.

Like, jump into those waters. Like, put yourselves in those waters, those uneasy waters, because by doing that, it's only human nature for you to adapt and overcome. You're going to learn what you need to learn to evolve and get yourself onto land. You know what I'm saying? So, like, I think it's just huge for people to take a sense of comfort in that it's a muscle. And so, you know, at this time, when I was a senior, I was wrestling, the Abbevine came out. Do you guys know what Vine is?

Yeah. So for those listening, if you don't know what Vine is, and if you do it was an app that was released in 2014 where you could post six-second videos. You had to be as creative as you can in six seconds. And everything that I do, I always want to bring a message. And for this, I knew what it felt like to be disgusted in my body.

I knew what it felt like, you know, to not want to live anymore. And I know as we're speaking, there are millions of kids and adults that feel that same way, right? That just don't feel like they're confident enough, whatever may be. And so I wanted to create an app. outlet where people can look on their phone and be like, wow, you know, look how happy Nick is.

Maybe I could be a little bit happier in my situation. And so I'm brainstorming ideas with my friends. And I said, guys, you know, how many legless guys do you see crawling around Walmart pretending to be a zombie? And they said, you know, no one. And I said, that's a good idea. And so I was a senior in high school. I put fake blood on my face. I put fake blood on my clothes. And Nick set out to his local Walmart in New Jersey, which Nick's not allowed in that Walmart anymore. I've been kicked out like three times. And, you know, I pulled a prank. I came around the corner and I was like, and I scared a guy. And, you know, this video was six seconds. And I got, you know, I filmed it in six seconds and I posted that video on Vine and it blew up. When I woke up

the next day for school, had over 80,000 likes and over 80,000 revines, which are reposts. And, you know, it went like, you know, crazy viral. And, you know, there was news articles all over. But the one article that stood out to me the most was New Jersey teen born with disability turned into a positive. And that's all I wanted people to realize that regardless of what hand life has dealt you with, whether you think your hand is good, what do you think your hand is bad? Guess what? You only have one hand. It's our duty to play that hand to the best of your ability. There's no getting out of this hand. Like, you can either sit here and moan and complain about your situation or you can go out and start making it better because you only got one life. And so that was kind of my message going on

with that. And, you know, under a year I started doing pranks. And under a year, I gained a million followers on Vine. And that led me to scaring Norman Redis in Tokyo, Japan. So Fox hired me to scare him. But I tell people like when I started- He's the Walking Dead guy, right? The motorcycle. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. The guy from Boondock Saints as well. And so, but I tell people like when I started focusing on like doing others, like making others people's laugh or trying to motivate and inspire others, like amazing opportunities came into my life. Like rather than getting, you know, looking in and trying to like, you know, just work. on myself and do things for myself once I started like trickling and started focusing energy on other

people like, you know, amazing things came into my life. And after that, you know, I realized that when I have kids and grandkids, then I want them to know me for much more than crawling around Walmart. So I needed to do something like bigger and better. And that's when like the lifting came in. I made an announcement to over, you know, a million supporters. I was like, guys, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to become a bodybuilder. I want to break into the mainstream modeling industry and I want to become a keynote speaker. And I said, I don't know how I'm going to do these things, but I'm going to throw myself in these waters, right, and figure it out. And that's what I always tell people, like, the beauty behind life is, especially with the internet, we have the ability to learn whatever

we want to learn and implement into our life. Like, everything's right here in our computer. Like, it's scary, but we can learn anything. And so, unfortunately, there wasn't a book in a library for a kid with no legs of one arm to bodybuilder else that would have saved me time. So it was just like in everything in life, it's trial and error. Like life is trial and error problem and solution like we've been talking about. And so I was going into the gym. with some of my buddies from wrestling and figuring out, you know, what movements help me hit my body. And, you know, when I told people I was going to do these things, I got a lot of heat for it, right? I got a lot of, you know, heat and kickback.

You know, they followed me for my pranks. Like, what are you doing? Same outside noise. It's the same cycle. But it's good when you have that rhythm of, okay, well, I know haters are about to come and just how you're going to react to it. And, like, how are you going to be a body, like, how are you going to be a bodybuilder? You have half a body.

Like, these are all the things that were people were telling to me. And, like, this can be empowering or disempowering. It's the meaning we attach behind it. So, you know, the same outside noise, like, how are you going to be a body, but you have half a body? And so I chose that as fuel. I'm like, all right, well, at least this top of my body is going to be more shredded than your body.

Like, I was just like, I guess I carried a chip on my field. I don't know if it was from the doctor's handed over that list, but thanks, you know. And so my knowledge of nutrition got better. My knowledge of training got better. My physique started to change. And, you know, people started to catch on that it wasn't just a phase for me. And, you know, with fitness, like, always tell people, go back to the Ferrari thing. Like, once I'm starting to feel better,

about my body, you know, this also built my confidence, you know, like just like feeling better about my body, feeling more comfortable with my skin. And so I moved to Tampa a year ago and, and, you know, I'm always looking to put myself in uneasy water. So I promised myself, my family, my friends, and my supporters, I said, guys, I'm going to get on the competitive bodybuilding stage before 2017 was over. I knew nothing about competitive bodybuilding. And I told people that. I was very transparent. I was like, I don't know anything about this, but I'm going to learn. And so I dedicated like 12 weeks to this preparation. And, um, I know, I was two weeks out from the competition, and I went to Las Vegas for Mr. Olympia to hang out with the supporters and fans,

which was a couple weeks ago. I just got back. And I talk about moments of being guided, like, where life just puts the right people. And like when you're on that frequency, like putting the right people in your life. And so the expo was Friday. And the expo was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I went Friday. I went Saturday. But Sunday I decided to hang home.

And I went to hang at the pool. And then I was like, all right, we got to go to the gym. So I went to the gym. And when I got in there, my buddy comes running up to me. He's like, dude, the rock is upstairs lifting. And I'm like, that's pretty sweet. Like, can I go lift? And he's like, yeah.

And so I climb up these stairs. And long behold, there's like four security guards. And there's Dwayne. And he's doing dips. And I'm like, oh, my God, it really is the rock. And so I told my guys, I look back at my team. I said, do not bother this man. He already knows me for my bodybuilding videos.

If the rock is who he says he is, he'll come up to me. I promise. Just like, don't bother him. And so, you know, we're going through, going through the motions and we're lifting. At one point, he's like, next to me, he's doing curls. And I wasn't paying him any attention. I was just doing my workout.

And then he goes over into the corner and he pulls off his headphones and he gets bombarded by pictures. And, you know, I do what a good leader should do. And I go back and I go like a moment of reassurance. I'm like, guys, I promise you to happen. Like, don't freak out. And so, you know, I'm lifting. And his security guard comes over and taps him my shoulder.

He goes, you're Nick, right? And I said, yeah. He goes, can Dwayne meet you? I'm like, yeah, like, come on. Like, bring him on. Yeah, no, sorry. I'm busy. I'm not going to go talk to the rock. No, sorry. Yeah, so he's like, I'll bring him over. So they escorted me over into a corner. Dwayne came up and he, you know, the first thing you did, got on my level and high five me, he goes, dude, I'm such a big fan. And I'm like, I'm like trying to hold my inner friend girl in, right? I'm like, freaking out.

And, you know, he's like, can we get a picture? And we took a picture. And I told him, I looked at him. I said, I told him all the things I was going to be doing. You know, at that time, I was like, I'm going to write a book. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. And I told him, I looked him in his eyes and said, I'm going to do what you did. And he said, well, what do you mean by that? I said, well, you're the rock. I said, people knew you for football and then people knew you for WWE. And then you took over the world. Like, you're in every industry. You're crushing every industry.

I said, I'm going to do that. And he looked me in my eyes. He said, Nick, you're right. Because, like, people like me and you, they put us in any industry and we adapt and overcome. And, you know, I was like, oh, my God. You know, like, it was just like a moment of reassurance. And for the people that are listening, like, you can sit here and self-reflecting.

and ask yourself, how good is your ability to adapt and overcome? Because that's like, I feel like that's all life is, right? Like we have a goal and we set out, but things don't always go the way that we plan it, right? And it's just our ability to pivot. It's our ability to be like, okay, well, this is not working. Let me figure out the next approach. Like, you know, and I feel like just the same thing. Like, that's a muscle, right?

So like, what, like, are you working on your ability to pivot? Are you working on your ability to adapt and overcome? I think that's very huge for people to just, Even just to realize, right? Some people don't realize some of these things. And it's like, well, if I put attention on that, I can see if I'm getting better at pivoting and stuff. And so we took a picture.

And then I told them about my competition. I was two weeks out. And so fast forward two weeks later, I'm backstage. I'm about to like make history and get on stage. And my buddy comes running up to me. He goes, dude, the rock posted you on his Instagram. And for all the millennials out there, like, that's a big deal. Like, the Rock has over 110 million Instagram followers.

like more than the president. It's like a big deal and it's crazy. And so he posted this really long heartfelt message. And at the end, he said, I want to thank Nick for sharpening my perspective a little bit more on life. And that's cool. This was like a, yeah, this was like a, you know, a moment of reassurance for me, right? Like that was a moment of reassurance that not only was my story helping and changing people, but if it was changing perspectives of that tier, of that high tier that like I always tell people, I may not have legs, but that was reassurance that I'm going to make a massive footprint in this world before I leave. and that's my goal.

And so, you know, with that being said, I competed. I took third in my class of men's physique, so I beat full-bodied guys. And, you know, just real quick, the approach I took on that was like, I knew that if I would have stepped on stage at 12, 15% body fat, that people would have clapped their hands anyway, but that's not me, you know, like I went out as shredded as I can and I beat, I beat other guys. And so after that, you know, I started working on my speaking. And that's what I always tell people like all these industries.

I didn't know what I was doing, but you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Find out who's crushing it in your industry and learn from them. Learn what they're doing right. Learn what they're doing wrong and save yourself some time. Like drop your ego and realize that like, yo, this stuff has already been done. Like it's already been done. Just find out like who's doing it right and like model them. And so I moved to Tampa and that's where I found my tribe who I have now,

Ratmere and Don, who, you know, have dedicated lives to traveling the world. and you've met them at GoBundance and traveling the world and just, you know, on my team to help share this message. And so we were just looking at the people that were crushing and speaking and finding out what they were doing right. And so, you know, we started the speaking company. It'll be, it's October. Wow. So it'll be, it'll be a year. It's been a year since we had the company. Okay. All right. Good. So I want, there's a few things you mentioned in the last couple minutes that I want to kind of pull out here and talk because, again, you know, a lot of our audience are real estate investors, not all of them, but just people who are trying to achieve

great thing. So the first thing I want to ask you about is goals. You've said goals a couple times. So obviously you're a goal guy. How do you view goals? Like what makes a good one? What do you do to ensure you get it accomplished? Can you talk about that for a minute? Yeah. So I have my approach. And like I said before it says, my approach may be different than your approach. And this may not be your approach. Everybody has a different approach. So in my goals, everyone knows smart goals, right? Like where you have a time limit on them and you set your deadlines. But I also set like way crazy goals. Like I set like way crazy goals. For example, the background on my phone is the Beijing, the Beijing Olympic Stadium in China because I plan to sell that stadium out in three years.

That's my goal. I'm touring China in December, but my goal is to sell out 100,000 people in a stadium in three years, which is crazy, but like that's my goal, right? I set like super high goals. But my thing about goals is, which he was, he was mentioning the rock climbing, the rock climbing video, which I could tie this into is through speaking all over, I realize that people want how I think. And so I can't be everywhere. So I created a mindset program. It's a virtual training program where you log in and then basically it's a bunch of modules. But the one module on goal setting, it's goal setting, eliminating excuses, limiting beliefs.

It was me climbing a mountain. And the best way to teach people is to paint the picture. Like the easiest way is just paint the picture for people. So I told people, I was like, I basically walked them through. I was like, here's my goal. My team said I'm going to climb a three and a half mile mountain. This is a super crazy goal for me. I'm very uncomfortable.

And these are the things that are starting. to go through my head. So I labeled my limiting beliefs. I labeled the things that were going through my head that I didn't think I could do. And then I walked them through like, here's how you're feeling 25% in, 50% and 75% in. And also the importance of accountability groups around your goals. And what I mean by that is like, it's great to have people loving on you, but that doesn't really help you. You need people that are loving on you but are like, okay, Nick, like you still have 50% of the mountain to go. Like you got to keep climbing it. And so with goals, set goals that you know where that you can achieve that aren't way out of there,

but also set like really big ones. And like with goals, it's just reverse engineering. So like you take a goal and you just start reverse engineering from like, like just picture yourself that you already have your goal done. And like what are the steps before it? Like how am I going to get to that goal? Because I think painting the picture,

like I said, even with goals helps you stay motivated, helps you stay on track when you have like little stepping stones. So like you take your goal and then you make little micro goals. So yeah, If that kind of answer your question? It does quite a bit because, I mean, like, again, I think a lot of success in life comes down to, like, two things. Like, knowing what you want and then working for it.

And that sounds really simplistic, right? But like, at the heart of everything, like, most people just don't know what they want. And those people who do know what they want oftentimes don't work for it. But if you only did those two things, is define clearly what you want and then work towards it. And the way you work towards it, yeah, you know what you want. So work backwards like that, right? So we have a journal, a bigger pocket journal coming out here this fall or winter. That's basically that, right?

It starts with, we talked about gratitude earlier, and I want to revisit that as well here in a minute. Because, like, the journal begins with gratitude. Like, what are those things you're grateful for? And then it moves into, yeah, what are those big goals? Then let's break them down. One thing I love doing, I do it on webinars a lot. I take like a big goal.

Like, hey, my five-year goal is to retire from real estate. Great. That's awesome. And most people, that's as far as they ever take it. Right? But I'm like, no, what are you got to do this year to be on track for that five-year goal, right? What do you got to, okay, so now you know, now you got one-year goal. Now, to be on track for your one-year goal, what do you got to do this quarter?

Be on track for this quarter. What do you got to do this month, this week, this day, the next five minutes. And every goal, I believe every goal can be condensed down to what is my next, like, the most important next step, which I call Minns, M-I-N-S, right? Most important next step. And it's like, yeah, what is that most important next step? And do it, right? Schedule. Go put it on your calendar because, like you said, like, otherwise it's just like a lofty goal.

It's just like, it's great that big goals. Floating. It's just floating over there. Exactly. It's just floating over there. So let's take it. Let's ground it. Let's get down to a, here's what I'm going to do.

So, for example, for a lot of real estate investors, I'll take it to the real estate space. They say they want to retire from real estate, right? So we backtrack and we say, okay, great, you want to retire from real estate. So you're going to need, what, $10,000 a month? Okay. So what's your five year goals, 10 grand a month? Great. What's your one year?

Maybe you should just be to buy, you know, two properties this year. That's a good start. If you buy two this year, maybe you'll double it next year. Okay, great. Now, two this year. Okay, so what's your goal for the next six months? Well, I'm going to buy one deal. Okay, well, what's your goal for the next quarter?

I'm going to make a couple offers this quarter. Great. Okay, so what's your goal for this month? Well, I'm going to get really, really, really good at analyzing deals. Okay, let's break it on to daily. I'm going to analyze one deal every single day. What's your next thing you're going to do? I'm going to go analyze three deals right now.

I'm going to put in my calendar for tonight, right? So, again, that's a kind of a tangible example of taking that down. So anyway, so I rant over on that. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, real quick, just to piggyback on that. Please. Like, for those of you that are writing down notes, clarity is power. Like, clarity is power.

Like, when you are so clear in what you want, like, that's empowering. Like, just the way you broke it down. Like, if when you know the tangible steps that you need to take, like, that's power. So just, yeah, get your, find out what you want and get clarity on it. Yeah, I love it. And then you said, you talk about modeling. And I love that as well, right? Like, we always try to reinvent the wheel.

But most of us, yeah, I mean, like, unlike you when you're trying to be a bodybuilder, you're not going to find a book on how to be a bodybuilder when you have no legs and one arm, right? But there is a book on a lot of things, right? Like, nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition, yeah. Nutrition, yeah. Exactly, right?

So there are people who have done exactly what you want to do in life. And that's one thing that's powerful about podcasting, right? When you listen to a podcast, you're listening to somebody else and you can model what they're doing. It's not going to be exact, of course. But, yeah, I love that concept of modeling. Don't try to reinvent the will. what works, so it's translated again to real estate. Like, when I'm trying to think of, like, I want to buy a property this year,

I'm not going to just go, like, go make something up and it's all this hard work and I got to figure, no, I'm going to do exactly what that guy did because it worked for him. I'm going to copy his, for example, like, I'm going to copy his exact letter he mails out to motivated sellers or I'm going to figure out what his script looks like. And I'm going to model it after him. And again, that's the value of podcasts and forums and blog posts and just self-education, right? Like, learn what other people are doing and repeat it.

Yeah, absolutely, because, yeah, some people are like, well, I can't get in contact with that person. Well, read their book or read their podcast. Like, get as personal as you can through, you know, social media, like whatever it may be. There's always a way to, you know, learn from that person. So, yeah, absolutely. Cool. All right. Then one other thing, and then we'll move on.

I'm curious, going back to the gratitude thing. You know, like, again, I'm a huge believer in it. Do you have any advice? You mentioned something about five things grateful for every morning. Can you expand on gratitude a little bit and, like, why is that so important? and what are some ways to do that? Yeah, so one, the reason why I think is important is because I think we can all agree, life gets hectic, right?

And sometimes we're just going through the motions, like we wake up, we're grinding, we wake up, we're grinding, we go to sleep. And, like, people just, like, forgot, like, they forget to, like, stop and, like, take a breath and be like, man, I woke up today. You know, I have clothes on my body. You know, I live in a house. I have food in my refrigerator. Like, when I was sleeping, like, my heart was still beating for it.

me. Like, it was still going, like, so I can live. And, like, that, like, your heart, like, you didn't have to work for it. Like, you, one day you were born and you had it. Like, it's a gift. And lately, I've been on this kick of just, like, really, like, it's spanning my mind and thinking about wild things. But I think a lot of people would have less stress and less worry in their life. If at least once a day, they realize the fact that, like, we're on a rock and it's, like, spinning around in the middle of nowhere. You know, like, we're just, like, here and we're just, like, we don't know why and just, like, embrace life, how, like, wildlife, is like and how grateful we should be with life but this thing I was saying it's emotionally impossible

for you to feel grateful and sad at the same time that that emotion of gratitude outweighs all the negative emotions and that's what I tell people is like when I start my day like today just thinking about five things are grateful for man I woke up today I have the opportunity to get on a podcast you know I have food in my refrigerator by you doing this like I always tell people starting your day for gratitude is starting your day off on the right foot and I don't have feet and I can still do it so that you can do it too and I think we can all agree that a lot of ungrateful kids are getting raised nowadays. And so the one thing that I push to parents is hold your kids accountable with gratitude, you know, have your kids list what they're grateful for and you guys share it

each and every morning and each and every night. If you want to instill good habits into your kid, gratitude is a great habit. And I want to bring it down so people can even get my perspective of, you know, living in this body, I know each and every day that me, a man with no legs in one arm, that there are millions of kids and adults that would switch places with me in an instant because they just don't have it like I do. And not in a cocky way. I'm saying like they live in bad situations or living on the street or they don't have this. They don't have that. Like, this isn't a disability. The biggest disability you can have is a bad mindset. And that's what I try to get people. I'm like, I'm not disabled. Like this is your superpower. And so for me to realize,

okay, like you may think this situation is bad, but it's not. Like there are millions of kids and adults that are like, have it way worse than me. And that goes, that like piggybacks into like life is all perspective. That is, all life. Life is all perspective and the way you look at it. So if you want to piggyback of that, I just get real fired up on a grass dude. I do on the, I mean, on all of it, but you mentioned something that you said like all life is like how we, how we view it. Right. So there's this, uh, I think Tony Robbins did it. It was someone I listened to or watched a while back, but he talked about like a hug, right? Is a hug intrinsically good or bad? And most of us would respond like off top of our

head. We're like, oh yeah, it's a good thing. What if it was from somebody who just murdered a bunch of people. Would you still want to hug from that guy? Or like, of course not. That would feel or creep, you know, the creep down the street who obviously has like, you know, I don't want him hugging me, right? So like things don't have, most things in life don't have intrinsic, is it good or is it bad? It's how we react to it, how we respond to it, how we feel about it in our heads, right? So change the way. Meaning we attach. Exactly. The meaning we attach. Yeah. So right. So attach a different meaning to things. If you're, if you're upset about things, if you're, if you're irritated, if you're whatever, change the meaning of how we look at that, right? Like, and that's where I

gratitude comes in is oftentimes that's the best way I think to be to change how you feel about something is being grateful about it. Right. So like, yeah, I didn't get that deal. I wanted that real estate deal. I didn't get it. You know what? I am so grateful that I live in an area where I can go make another offer tomorrow. Like I can go make 10 hours. I can double my advertising spend for deals. I can go and meet with more real estate investors. Like how awesome is that that? That I live in a world that I can do that. Oh man, like now that's the meaning totally changes. Now it's empowering. Now it's empowering. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right? I'm fired up to go do something else. And the same thing for like, for people, even for me, like when I'm on a plane, like I just got back from a month of touring.

And, you know, when I'm sitting on a plane and I'm like, oh my God, I live in the airport. Well, I'm like, oh, well, let's not think like like that. I'm like, well, I'm grateful to be busy. I'm grateful to be productive because if I was sitting home on a couch and didn't have nothing going on and be freaking out. So also that. And yeah, I want to tell a story on the meaning you attach behind things is a perfect way to leeway into it. So the meaning you attach is like my favorite thing to like teach, right? And tell people like this is, this is it. Like whatever, like I can have a tragic event happen in my life and you can see all the good and I can see all the bad. It's the meaning we attach behind it. And that's what I always tell people is like

life like right now, we're sitting in plain energy. We're sitting in plain energy and like we are the dictators, whether things around us are negative or positive. Like I said, it's the meaning we attach and we are the dictators like we are the architects and we're in control of that and so a couple months ago I had the opportunity to work at UFC event in Madison Square Garden so I had the opportunity to interview the fighters interview the celebrities and you know Nick was feeling like the man I always tell people my confidence was like way way taller than I'll ever be and it was time for me to travel it was time for me to go home and I was traveling alone and with planes you have first come first serve a per se and so I rolled up in a wheelchair and you know what that means

I get to skip the line. So I skip the line and I get in the first row and it's a three-seater row and I sit next to the window. So there's two seats next to me. And I remember the flight attendant saying, honey, this is going to be a full flight. And I said, yeah, it's fine. You know, I already got my seat. And so they start boarding and they start boarding and people are like looking at me and

they're looking away or, you know, hey, hey, look at that guy. And, and, you know, my whole life, I'm 22. I'm in tune. I'm in tune with this. Like, you know, my whole life, I'm just in tune with people's reactions. And so, you know, people are. doing this and I'm kind of getting like, you know, upset and the plane's filling in and no one wants to sit next to me. You know, the seats are getting filled all around me and these two seats

are empty and I'm, you know, I'm starting to tear up and it brought me back to that moment in middle school when I felt like absolutely disgusted with myself. You know, it brought me back to that moment. And, you know, that's, I tell people you're like, we're the only humans that can think of thought and piss ourselves off and make ourselves upset or, you know, make ourselves happy. Like, we're the only being that can do that. And so, you know, here I am, the plane starting to fill in and I'm like, I'm like crying. And, you know, it's filling in and filling in. And finally two gentlemen have to sit down and I'm looking at the window and I'm crying.

And I'm trying not to like let people know I'm crying. And so I'm looking at the window and I thought to myself, I said, Nick, you know, what would you tell the kids? You know, what would you tell the kids you speak to? What would you tell the adults you speak to? Like, what would you tell them? And that's what I thought, you know, it's the meaning I attach behind this. It's like, what meaning am I going to attach behind this? Is it going to be disempowering and empowering?

And that's when I realized that I could cry all the way home. I could let this affect my day, my week, my month, or I could celebrate the fact that I had the most leg room in this plane. And like, what's it going to be? Like I took, like, and then I tell people like, snap your fingers because I can and they snap their fingers. And I'm like, I took a moment in a snap of a finger that I thought was negative, where I was upset. And I switched the meaning behind it. I switched the meaning behind it to something empowering.

And here I am, you know, like pumped up about the fact that like, all right, well, you don't want to sit next me. That's fine. I got them. Like, you guys are all fighting over. leg room, I got the most, you know? Like, that's the, that's everything in life. Like, every event in your life, like, it's the meeting you attach behind that. And also, I want to bring up, I love this quote by Nelson Mandela. He says, I don't lose. I only win or I learn. And that's the same thing. And that's life. Like, if we can self-reflect on an event that happened

in the past that you may think was bad, that happened against you and not for you. And you pull one good piece of information from that, whether it was one piece of wisdom, one different approach, maybe it was a gain perspective, but there's always one good piece of information to pull out of any event. And what you do by that is you take an L, what you think was an L, a loss, and you pull one good piece of information, you extract that piece of information, and you turn into a win, you learn from it. And then you realize that you don't lose in life. You only winner you learn. And so I think that's super important for people to realize and also self-reflected. Like, you could take it a vet of your life and you thought it was bad,

pull one good piece of information from it and that event happened for you. And that's a big mind shift for people going from victim to victor is realizing like the world is happening for you and not to you. The things that happen in your past all like it just all happened and it has, you know, sculpted you into who you are. Like these things have made you into your heart. Like they're all empowering. And so I think that's a huge, a huge mind chef for people to have is because everyone like, I feel like everyone at least one point in life has a victim mentality of like, why me? Like, why is this happening to me? Like, you know, and it's just empowering to know that like this happened for me.

It didn't happen to me. And, you know, there's always one good piece of information that can come out of this. And that's, you know, that's kind of where, you know, I tie in like my book. My book is how to go from victim to victor mentality and live the life you love. And it's 15 stories, you know, like some of these personal stories I've told. It's 15 stories, lessons and applications of how people can just start, you know, having these mindset tricks and start living that life. Because that's what people want to know.

They're like, how is this kid so happy? How does this kid think this way? How is this kid achieving these things with their legs and one arm? It's just, this is your superpower. This is all it is. That's awesome. So when's the book come out? When do people get it?

How do they get it? Yeah. So the book is, like I said, how to go from victim to victor and live the life you love. And so the book will be out. It'll be out on Amazon, but it'll be out probably in the next couple of days. So if you guys just keep a look on it, it'll be on Amazon. And if you type in my name for the podcast, you type in Victim to Victor, it'll pop up.

It's the only book with a man with no legs and one arm that's shirtless on it. That's awesome. I will put a link in the show notes as well for that. I would encourage everyone to go pick up a copy. I mean, like, yeah, Nick, you're super inspiring. Anything you want to leave us with today? Any final pieces of wisdom, advice, things you've learned, any stories you wanted to cover before we get out of here?

Yeah. Just wrap it up to just really, like, to just really, like hit that nail on the hammer is like life is all perspective guys and just like it's the way you look at it and you can either look at it through a negative lens you could focus on the negative you can focus on your weaknesses like and that stuff doesn't empower you it's it's it's literally all about focusing on the good focusing on what you're good at and also you know being being brutally honest with yourself on what your what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are and i think that's super important super empowering because you know what you're good at and you know what you need to

delegate at and to drop your ego and realize that some things you're not good at. And if you don't have the time to learn them, that it's okay to delegate and have someone else do it that has, you know, has strengths in that field because, you know, time is valuable. Time is super valuable. We're always trying to systemize things, right, and make things, you know, self-efficient and, you know, build our horizontal income so we're making money while we sleep. Well, there's some things that you're, that's not your strengths. You know, there's some things that we're not good at. So it's go ahead and, you know, drop that ego and start delegating. So you have more time to focus on your strengths.

And, you know, in every situation, we have that choice. It's like, it's like life. We could focus on the negative or we can focus on the power, you know, the positive. And the disempowering meeting and the empowering meeting. It's just like, it's like, what's it going to be? And so once people look through life in that lens of like, you know, the world's happening for me and not to me and all these events in my life in the future, now and the present, like I'm going to learn from them and I don't lose.

I only win or I learn. Yeah. That's powerful. Drops the mic. I love it. All right. Dude, this has been fantastic. So thank you so much for this today.

I think our audience is going to love hearing this. So again, y'all check out the book. It's called Victim to Victor, correct? Victim to Victor. By Nick Scent. How to overcome that victim mentality. How to overcome. Man, I love it.

All right. Nick Santa Nastaso. Santa Nistaso, right? There it is. I did the hand. I did the hand. Yes. Dude, thanks so much.

Keep in touch. You got it, brother. Grateful for the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Nick. Great job, man. All right, and that was our interview with Nick Sonsanto.

Did I get it? Yeah, that's pretty good. Thanks. Yeah, I stumbled there for a second. But Nick, fantastic, dude. I love the mindset. I love the conversation that, like, our reality is based on how we perceive things in a lot of cases. I mean, like, we get angry at a person or we get sad because of a deal.

deal. It's all how we feel, right? It's we change. We define our reality in a lot of ways. And it's just a good reminder that, you know, despite challenges, despite being born, you know, with three of his four limbs missing, the guy's overcoming all sorts of odds and just doing awesome stuff. So yeah, very cool. Yeah, I'm grateful we have people like Nick because he just reinforces that idea. Just like the rock said, like people like us, you drop us in any situation. We will adapt and overcome and we will dominate in that area. And anybody can have that mindset. Right? Your physical body plays zero role in your success. It is all about your mindset.

And his comment that the biggest disability is a bad mindset was just, ooh. Yeah, I wrote that down. I was like, that's really good. Yeah, I'm going to make some Instagram quotes, cards for that. So yeah, speaking of Instagram, make sure you're following bigger pockets over on Instagram at bigger pockets. And make sure you follow David Green over there at David Green 24 and at beardy Brandon, if you want to follow them what I'm doing. And that's it.

So, David, I'm going to get out of here. Thanks for being an awesome, amazing co-host of the Bigger Pockets podcast. Thanks for that gratitude, Brandon. That's very nice of you. I'm grateful for you. Let's go crush our days after hearing from Nick. That being said, this is David Green for Brandon Handsome Shirt Turner, signing off. You're listening to Bigger Pockets Radio, simplifying real estate for investors large and small.

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