The Chris LoCurto Show

Successful people have mentors. Why?Because mentors are one of the best ways to fast track your success and performance.That's the reason I have mentors in every area of my life.If I can learn from the wisdom of someone who's "been there"...I literally can shave years off the learning curve.You've heard me talk about my racing coach and how he coached me to setting a track record.I did mention I set a track record...right?Well, it would have taken a lot longer to reach that goal had he not been coaching me.Now you don't have to have a mentor...You can keep doing life without one but when your limited to just "your" knowledge, you are extremely limited with your options.Successful people understand the value of input.Successful leaders understand that one persons experience is another persons revelation.They understand that the best thing is not always the right thing.And they don't have to be the head of the class.You see, NO ONE reaches success alone. And successful leaders know this.Question: Who was your first mentor?

Today we're talking about how to define your core values.Now I'm sure for some of you you're thinking of "corporate core values".Well... that's not what we're talking about today.We're talking about your personal core values, your personal culture.Let me start off by defining what court values are.These are the things that you value so much that you filter your life through them. These are things that are so important to you, that are such a high value to you, that you should be filtering your life through them.You should be making decisions based off of them.This seems like a no-brainer, but the problem is when we don't understand what our core values really are and we end up filtering life through things that are not healthy.Here's some of the benefits of listening to the show today:Why you should have personal core valuesHow to have guard rails for your lifeThe difference between healthy and unhealthy valuesHow to have more directions and energy in your lifeHow your values are vital in making decisions every dayYour decision-making processWhat your leadership has to do with valuesWhy God should be your number one valueHow to come up with your core valuesHow to filter your life through your valuesQuestion: What's your top core value? Why?

In November of 2010, Michele Cushatt's world was turned upside down.She was 39 years old, had three boys, and on a Tuesday morning right before Thanksgiving her doctor told her she had a very rare kind of cancer.She said, "The word cancer dropped into my life like a bomb…Everything changed after that point. The only thing I could think to do in that moment was run to my knees...and that’s where I found myself.”Today's interview with Michele is powerful. She is amazing!Here’s a few of the things we cover on the show:• How to deal with devastating news• Learning to walk with God in tragedy• What having faith really looks like• Coming face to face with your beliefs• Dealing with misguided expectations• Discerning God’s presence• What to do when a piece of your story doesn’t go according to plan• How to cope with fear and uncertainty• A healthy perspective on perfection• The tragedy of poor work/life balance• Loving the dark parts of your story• How to plan life and business when plans fail• Finding value in yourself• Determining healthy motivation and driveIf you are going through a storm right now be encouraged. God has not abandoned you.In fact he is more near to you now than ever before.Here are some of my favorite quotes from Michele: “What we believe about God in those moments [when our story doesn’t go according to plan] ends up dictating what the future looks like.”“I can choose to be very bitter and angry and be a victim…or I can choose to weave it into my story [and find the good.]”[Tweet "“If you can write a check, it isn’t a tragedy.” "]“It’s so easy to get caught in the temporal, and miss out on the things that truly last and matter.”[Tweet "“Perfection doesn’t create very many opportunities for connection.""]“All of our attempts to be so polished all the time are actually minimizing our opportunities for connection with others.”“We think it’s all about being polished and perfect but there’s no one out there that can really connect with someone who is perfect”“…believe in what you have to say, that’s what being really successful looks like.”“It’s not all about crossing off my to-do list, sometimes there’s a more worthy pursuit”[Tweet "“The struggle is exactly what I needed to bring myself to the place I am today.”"]“I don’t have to work 70 hours a week to be worthy of my skin.”“It’s only in the struggle that we develop perseverance and endurance.”“we get caught up into thinking the world is dependent on us.”“You can do everything right, and everything can change in a moment.”“Is a 70 hour work week really the notch in your belt you want to leave behind? Is having 20,000 twitter followers really the legacy you want to leave?”“We are so desperate to make an impression and to leave a mark on this world and yet the ways we’re going about it seem so contrary to what we say really matters.” You can find out more about Michele by visiting http://michelecushatt.com.You'll also want to read her book: Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life.I read it and was incredible moved by Michele's transparency and her perspective on life.

Here's the link for the post: http://chrislocurto.com/10-warning-signs-of-toxic-people/I see it everyday...great people that are allowing a toxic person to control them, abuse them, and manipulate them.This is serious folks.Reality is that quite a few people listening to the podcast and reading this are either in a toxic relationship or are actually toxic themselves.So while we’re on the subject of toxic people... be aware that you "may" be one of them.Here's a few of the warning signs we cover on the show:They have a big need for control.They tend to be dishonest.They are abusive.Typically they are disrespectful.Beware of their manipulation.They try to intimidate with power or money.Victim MentalityHostilityRemember that I want you to be the healthiest person possible.Use this episode to gauge toxicity in yourself and your relationships.Toxic people are always looking for someone to control. Beware!What has been your experience in dealing with toxic people?

Today we have a couple of AskChris questions from Brian and Jay.If you have a question you want me to answer on the show go to /askChris.Leadership is often misunderstood. A title doesn't make you a leader and "title-leadership" can destroy a company.Brian called in to tell us about a big leadership win he recently had. He built trust and loyalty...that's huge! That's a leader. You rock Brian!Jay asked a great question about when to expand his business into departments and when to create an official org chart.I've got some specific opinions on the classic org chart that I cover on the show. Would love to know your thoughts.P.S. It all starts with vision.

Have you ever discovered that you're burnt out from work? From life?Well...where is that coming from?Is it because you've been overworked for too long? Maybe you've been overstressed for too long?(Keep in mind this could be work stress, family stress, and relationship stress.)In order to avoid burnout there's a few questions I want you to consider. When was the last time you went on vacation?How often are you telling people "NO"?Do you need to tell some family members or friends or bosses "No"?Do you have too much responsibility on your plate?Do you have controlling people in your life?Are you writing down all you commitments in order to eliminate the unnecessary?Are you focused on your health?Are you suffering from information overload?Are you in control of your calendar?You hear me talking about this all the time but you must stop making statements and start asking questions. Ask yourself questions. Gain perspective!Start asking yourself some good questions on how you got to where you.We want you to be the strongest possible self that you can be.Question: How do you avoid burnout?

Our guest today is Cliff Ravenscraft…The Podcast Answer Man!In 2005 Cliff started podcasting about the TV show Lost and has been on a huge growth trajectory ever since.He shares with us how he turned his passion into a business and how he took the scary leap into entrepreneurism.Here’s what all we cover:How Cliff got into PodcastingHow he uses Podcasting to Build RelationshipsWhy he walked away from a $500k insurance agency gigWhat the TV Show LOST has to do with podcastingHow he transitioned from hobby to full time careerWhat you need to know about following your passionHow Cliff lost 45 poundsThe 10,000 hour rule applied to PodcastingThe power of just startingThe biggest mistakes when starting to grow your platformHis advice to folks just starting out

Part 2 - LifePlan Journey: Before and After by Chris LoCurto: Entrepreneur, Leadership Coach, LifePlan, Blogger

Self doubt. Fear of failure. Not feeling good enough.Have you experienced any of these in your life?If so…todays interview will challenge and motivate you to step out in faith and move towards health.I interview Trent, a recent LifePlan attendee, about his powerful story of being overwhelmed with self doubt and fear. In fact this is a 2 Part interview, a before and after.I sat down with Trent BEFORE his LifePlan. I knew the change that was about to take place in his life and I wanted to hear him share some of his reservations and fears about LifePlan.He walks us through his journey of making the decision to change and move in the direction of health. He shares the feelings and emotions that most of us try to hide.This is a powerful interview!I asked Trent if he would share his story on the podcast because I have a feeling that a lot of you are just like Trent.You are living in fear and you don’t have to anymore.You are wasting your life worrying about other peoples opinions.Here’s what Trent and I cover on the show:Not feeling good enoughViewing people as better than youReaching the breaking point in lifeTrent’s battle with people pleasingNegatively influencing your childrenPassing your root system to your kidsBeing taken advantage ofBeing controlled by parentsThe possibility of changeTrent’s story is the reason why we do LifePlan.If you go day after day not making good decision, not feeling good enough, not feeling worthy…If someone has taught you that you are not good enough…IT”S A LIE.You are not a mistake. You are good enough. In fact…it’s not about you…it’s about God.Part 2 of Trent’s interview will be out on Thursday so be sure to check back this week. It’s the fun one!And a special shout out to Trent – Brother, YOU ROCK! Thank you for stepping up and sharing your story. You are helping change lives!

Do you want to know how businesses win at sales?It's pretty simple...INTEGRITY. Not compromising just to make a buck. Trust me, it will always come back to bite you.I asked Joel to join me on the show to talk a little bit about our sales process and how he focuses on integrity when selling. Here's what Joel and I cover on the show:How to have integrity when sellingJoel's philosophy on servant sellingWhat you usually don't find in sales peopleHow to guide the customer through servingSales techniques vs. Serving TechniquesHow to help people trust youWhat causes someone to break integrity?Do you believe in what you're selling?I believe integrity is critical to growing your sales process. And as the leader it's your job to instill integrity into the DNA of your company culture. Never.Break.Integrity. Question: How have you experienced a lack of integrity in business?