Imagine walking into your local gym, and as you make your way through the rows of machines, you notice this guy that only has one arm doing arm curls. Even more surprising, he has no legs either. Automatically, for most of us, the first impulse would be to feel sorry for him. “Wow, a man with no legs and one arm, how terrible is that?” One may think…
Well, meet Nick Santonastasso, who not only does not feel sorry for himself, but is an amazing motivational speaker earning millions of dollars touring with the likes of Tony Robbins. A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to see Nick live at an event here in Denver. There were many wonderful speakers like Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Marcus Lemonis, Terrell Davis, and others, but Nick was my favorite that day.
Nick touched on many great topics, but what I would like to relate to you here are his thoughts on our life focus. Because what we focus on, we get more of. The big question Nick put to us was:
“In your life, do you focus on the things that you have? Or the things that you don’t have?”
“As a man with one arm and no legs, if I woke up every day focusing on what I don’t have, it would be horrendous”, he said. But the negativity wouldn’t end there. He continued: “Focusing on what you don’t have makes you feel bad. When you feel bad, you take bad actions, and you get bad results… Welcome to the cycle.”
Conversely, as a young man of twenty two Nick decided to become a bodybuilder, he moved to another city, and in the process met many great people who saw in him a man with amazing vision and motivation.
Now in his late twenties, Nick is an inspiration and a challenge to many of us who while physically able, are many times handicapped by our negative mentality, our victimhood syndrome, our laziness, or any other self defeating mental jails we’ve created for ourselves.
When we open our eyes, truly open them, and see all the wonderful gifts that we have today, combined with the opportunities and possibilities in front of us, our world will look much more positive, and our results will follow suit.
I am truly thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to meet people like Nick in the world, resilient individuals who show not just by words, but especially by their actions, how we can be truly happy if we make a positive change, a change that starts within our minds.
You can follow Nick on Facebook at: facebook.com/NickSantonastasso
Sensei Willy Strohmeier founded Colorado Karate Club in 2005 and has taught traditional Shotokan karate to children and adults in Brighton and Westminster, Colorado, ever since, and writes a monthly column for The Brighton Buzz. More about CKC