Finding the Will to Recover: Nick Prefontaine | EP 493

You know you need something, you're just not sure what. You've been listening, you're doing the work, but there's still this feeling that you're circling the same place, like you're waiting for the thing that finally moves you. Now maybe you've thought about working with me one-on-one. Maybe something's held you back, the timing, the money, or you're just not sure you're ready yet. I get that. And I want you to know there's still a place for you. I built a resource for exactly this moment, guided meditations for when the waves hit and you just need to breathe. Workbooks to help you get out of your head and onto the page, ebooks on what near-death experiences tell us about the people we've lost, and whether they're really gone, a full course for widows and widowers who are ready to find their way back to living, and a full course for the evidence of the afterlife. And all of it is available for pay what you want. Nobody gets turned away because of money. I think these resources are valuable, but I don't want to hold them back because you don't have the money to pay for them. You don't have to wait until you're ready for coaching. The next step might be a lot smaller than you think. To find out, go to grief2growth.com/store. That's grief, the numeral 2, growth.com/store. And check out the resources I've made for you. Close your eyes and imagine. What are the things in life that cause us the greatest pain? The things that bring us grief are challenges, challenges designed to help us grow, to ultimately become what we were always meant to be. We feel like we've been buried. But what if, like a seed, we've been planted? And having been planted, we grow to become a mighty tree. Now, open your eyes. Open your eyes to this way of viewing life. Come with me as we explore your true, infinite, eternal nature. This is Grief to Growth. And I am your host, Brian D Smith. Hey there, welcome to Grief 2 Growth. I'm Brian D Smith, and I'm glad you're here. Whether this is your first time joining us, or you've been walking this road with me for a while, I'm really glad to have you here today. This show exists for the moments when life stops making sense. When you've lost someone or something that you don't know how to live without. We explore grief, we explore loss, and we ask the questions that don't have easy answers, like what happens after we die, and whether the love we share can survive the distance. My guests come from all different backgrounds, but they all share one thing: they've been through the fire and they have something real to say about what they found on the other side. And Nick Prefontaine is no exception to that. Nick Prefontaine is living proof that the human spirit doesn't just survive, it runs. At 14 years old, Nick suffered a life-threatening snowboarding accident that left his parents sitting in a hospital being told their son might never walk, talk, or eat on his own again. Less than 90 days later, he didn't just walk out of the hospital, he ran out of the hospital. But the physical recovery was only part of the story. Nick had to find his voice, literally rebuilding his ability to speak from the ground up. Today, Nick is a 3-time bestselling author, a nationally recognized speaker named one of the most top— one of the top motivational speakers by Yahoo Finance, and the founder of Common Goal. He developed the STEP system: Support, Trust, energy, and persistence, not from a textbook, from, but from the inside of his own crisis. So in our conversation today, we're going to go deep into what it actually takes to come back from something that many people think should end you. Not the motivational poster version, the real thing. What does it feel like to wake up and not recognize the body you're living in? How does a 14-year-old find the will to fight when the adults in the room have already written the prognosis? And what does Nick now know about resilience, family, and the persistence of the human spirit that he couldn't have learned any other way? So if you're in a season right now where you're not sure what you have what it takes to get back up, and grief or loss or a crisis has made you question everything you thought you were, this one's for you. And if you'd like to continue the conversation with me after the episode, head over to grieftogrowth.substack.com. You'll find an article there about today's discussion. Where you can comment and connect with me and other listeners. And with that, let's welcome Nick Prefontaine.

How, Brian D Smith, so excited to be here.

Thank you. I'm really glad to have you here today, Nick. Your story is just one of— fits right in with my— with the theme of my program, Grief to Growth, you know, going through the most difficult things in life and, and coming back from those things. So take me back to that time when you were 14. And you had your accident.

Sure, yeah, it was, uh, like any, like any, uh, ski club day, uh, we were, we were excited. Ski Club Wednesday, uh, we always, we always look forward to it, and, uh, we always had it. And, um, actually, it's funny, uh, my sister is, uh, raising a family right now in the same town that we grew up in, and she heard the kids, a few years older than her kids, my niece and nephew, talking about Ski Club Wednesday, and she's like, oh no, I, I know about Ski Club Wednesday. So, uh, yeah, it was a Ski Club Wednesday, and, uh, we had got released a little bit early from school, so that was always a big deal, uh, for being 14 years old. Missing any bit of school, even a little bit, was a big deal. So, uh, my buddies and I all brought our snowboard gear onto the bus to get ready so as not to miss a precious moment once we got to the mountain. And we got to the mountain, headed right for the chairlift with the rest of the class. They, they went inside and waste time getting ready, but we were all ready to go. So we headed right for the chairlift and going up, we noticed that it was very icy because it had been raining early in the day. So people were wiping out everywhere and it wasn't slowing us down, not in the least. And Where the chairlift went over Brian D Smith was right over the terrain park where all the jumps were, like the jumps and rails and everything like that. So I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to go off the biggest jump in the terrain park. So I got to the top, buckled into my snowboard, took a breath of that crisp winter air, and confidently charged towards that jump with all my speed. And going up to the jump, I caught the edge of my snowboard And that was the last thing that I remember. Hmm. So they wanted— they actually wanted to bring a helicopter to the mountain to rush me to the hospital, and they couldn't because it was too windy. So they had to send in an ambulance. And out of all the paramedics on staff, there was only one who could intubate right on the spot. And I needed that to be able to breathe. And I actually just learned a little while ago that, um, I thought he was only— he— I— the coincidence was he was the right paramedic to show up on the mountain. Um, it actually goes a little, a little, a level deeper than that. Uh, he was actually in the parking lot, uh, when he got the call, coincidentally. So, um, definitely a lot of things had to break right for me to be here today with you and your listeners to tell this story. Yeah, that was the main one. And then the— I also learned something else I learned after the fact was that my goggles were the only protection that my head had. So the doctors, experts, eyewitness accounts, they told me that, like friends and people who saw it, they told me that not only did my goggles— they were very thick with a lot of padding. I never would have fathomed that I would need them to brace my fall. But not only did they brace my initial fall. As I continue to roll down the mountain and continue to hit my head, they told me that the goggles moved to cushion each blow between my head and the ice.

Oh wow.

And probably the most, uh, consequential thing, when I got to the hospital, I mean, I was out. I was, uh, in a coma, partially induced coma. In the intensive care unit, and the only people who were allowed into my room at that time, Brian, were my parents. So it was important at that time that the doctors, they didn't— they weren't doing anything, no fault of their own, but they just came into the room and came to share the prognosis with my parents right in front of me. The not so good news, not so good news, not so good news. They can't build people up with hope at that point, liability reasons and everything like that. So right when they started to talk and share the news right in front of me, even though I was in a coma, my mom stopped them and she said, "No, no, not in front of him." So she knew that, she understood that even though I was in a coma, I was still taking in information. So she made the doctors step outside the room. And then once they were there, that's when they said that I probably wouldn't be able to walk. Talk or eat on my own ever again. So even, even if I came out of the coma, there was a good chance that I would need 24-hour care for the rest of my life. And my parents, to their credit, didn't accept this like a death sentence like so many patients do, uh, and their families, uh, so they took the information, thanked the doctors and allowed me to treat it like any other situation. So this is no different than any other challenge that I faced in my life. And because of that, I really didn't see the difference. So I ended up being in the coma. It was a partially induced coma for 3 weeks. I really don't remember a month because it was partially induced and it was a month after my accident. I was transported to a rehab hospital in Boston and That's where I kind of began my journey of having to learn how to walk, talk, and eat again. And it was right at this point that, uh, really my memories started to come back. Like, like I can start to remember things the beginning of March 2003. However, that month from February 5th, uh, to March 5th, 2003, that's gone. I, I don't— I have no memory or, uh, recollection of that. So that's gone. And it was right around this time that I started to unknowingly use a system to not only make a full recovery— and I'll actually let you know where the, the goal of running out of the hospital comes from— and that's a STEP system. STEP is an acronym. What I'll do is I'll give for you and your listeners, I'll give like a 10,000-foot view. And then if anyone's interested in learning more at the end, I can let them know how they can download STEP. My ebook for free. Uh, and STEP stands for support, so make sure you have the support of your family and friends right from the beginning. And this is going to have you falling back on relationships that you built prior to your setback. T is— and I already talked about how my parents were, were my support, um, in the beginning and throughout my recovery. And then T is trust. So trust that once you take your first step, your next step's always going to be available to you. And this also starts with trusting that voice that we all have inside of ourselves. But too many, too much of the time we silence it, we push it down, or we, we don't listen to it, we ignore it. So where that comes from is after I was transported Brian D Smith to the rehab hospital. I can remember, uh, this was even before I could talk, so I could remember overhearing my parents talking with my team of doctors and therapists, and they were saying, okay, what do we need to do to make sure Nick makes a full recovery? I heard in the back of my head, you're going to run out of the hospital. So then running out of the hospital became our common goal. And I think I just share that to illustrate the trust and why it's so important to listen to that, that, that voice that you have inside of yourself. Yeah. E is energy. So maintaining your energy allows your body's natural ability to be able to heal itself. And medication has the potential to get in the way of that. So, I mean, obviously within reason here, and energy continues to evolve throughout my life. And throughout anyone's life it does. But at that point it was my parents wanted to get me off of the medication as soon as possible. So unless it was an absolutely critical to my survival, they opted not to have me on any medicine and medication. And then finally, P is persistence. So once you've taken your first step, keep getting up every day and taking your next step. No matter how small, and by continuing to move forward every day, you are building an unstoppable momentum. So if you fast forward less than 60 days later, after being transported to the rehab hospital, I ran out of the hospital. Um, and Brian D Smith, it wasn't like my work was done at that point. I— it was, it was just the beginning. If anything, it was just the starting line, really. I had to continue to go to outpatient therapy for the same things— physical, occupational, and speech therapy— for another 6 months, 5 days a week. And unlike when I was in inpatient rehab, which was double sessions, physical, occupational, speech therapy, 5 days a week, outpatient therapy was only— I say only, it was single sessions, 5 days a week, physical, occupational, and speech therapy. So I, I also had to— I mentioned— actually, I don't know if I mentioned this. I was in 8th grade when I got in the accident, so I was only 14. And I— they gave me the option when I came home from the hospital to say, oh, it's okay, you know, focus on your rehab and 'You can take your time on getting better and just— you can do 8th grade again next year.' And I was like, 'I don't want to do that. That's something that's so terrible.' So what I did, I continued for the rest of the year. This was the end of April to June. I continued to go to school, but I wasn't able to be with my classmates. I would get private tutored in school, and then I had to get private tutoring all summer long in order to continue on to high school., with the rest of my classmates. Wow. And, looking back at it, Brian, it's a little surreal that only 18 months later I got— because I'm sure you get this and your listeners get this— when you're younger, time is compressed. So if you're— if you think like 6 months out, 12 months out, 18 months out seems like a lifetime. Yeah. When you're younger. However, the older I get, I'm seeing it's really not that long. It's like a blink. Um, so only 18 months later, after finishing my rehab, uh, from my snowboarding accident and being in a coma, I got my start in real estate. And, um, that was door knocking pre-foreclosure doors, or homeowners that have received the notice of default letter from the bank, meaning that they had missed several payments on their loan. The bank still closed on the home. And I would go, I would go to their door, go door to door, and try to set up meetings for one of our investors to meet with them the following week about potentially helping them out of their, you know, unfortunate situation.

Oh, wow.

And it took Brian— it actually took a mentor pointing this out to me 5 years ago that I realized it. And she said, well, because it was so soon after your accident, this was a part of your recovery, uh, going door to door, helping people out of their unfortunate situation. So I continued to do that throughout the rest of, um, high school. And then when I graduated high school, I got my real— started studying to get my real estate license, and then was helping buyers and sellers, uh, as a realtor, like sales.

Yeah.

Then my dad, my dad actually came to me. He approached me in 2014 and he was starting to buy homes again creatively. So without using any of his money or signing personally or big investor down payments or money or anything like that. And then however he was acquiring them. So I'm, I'm still involved in now. This family, family business, call it, buying and selling real estate. So I'll just give you like 10,000-foot view, some of the ways that we buy. So we'll buy on a lease purchase. So basically a delayed cash sale, take over all responsibility, responsibility for maintenance, repair, and upkeep. And then in the future, someday in the future, 2, 3, or 5 years, we'll will cash it out. And another way is if that's not closing on it. And then another way, if they have an existing loan, we'll actually close on it subject to that existing loan. And a third way, just to keep it simple, is if, if a seller doesn't have any debt on the property, we can actually close on it and structure principal-only payments back to the seller. Yeah. However we're buying it, we're always selling it on a rent-to-own. And that's where I kind of came into the picture because my dad approached me in 2014 and he was starting to accumulate all these properties and he needed someone's help for getting them on the rent-to-own market and looking for a rent-to-own buyer. So Uh, I originally at the end of 2014 started helping him with that, uh, just right alongside being a realtor. And what I found is over the next 13 months, my income totally shifted with him. Um, I was making the majority of my money, uh, with him as an investor because, uh, putting them on the rental market is different than listing them as a realtor. It's a different pool of buyers. So there's only roughly 18% of the market who can walk into a bank and get a loan. So we're marketing to the other bigger portion of buyers. Now, they're not all good. However, there's a large swath in there who— they make great money, they have great incomes, and they, they have money saved for a down payment. They're just not, for whatever reason, able to walk into a bank and get a loan. So we're getting them into the home with the down payment anywhere from 3 to 10%, getting them connected with credit enhancement, credit repair, and then getting them on the path to homeownership where there would— there wouldn't be a path for them otherwise. So now it's in addition to our family business. Now we also have associates all over the country who we help put in place the same systems, tools, and processes, uh, that have us— that have made us so successful and help them implement that into their business. Um, so I'm doing that, and I'm also doing this work with Common Goal and working with individuals who, um, are going through in the midst of their own challenge, trauma, life crisis, struggle Right. Number one, get through it, and then to be able to thrive with the rest of their lives.

Awesome. That's awesome. So I, I want to take you back to, to your, to your accident, and you mentioned that the doctor said that you would never, or possibly never, be able to walk or talk or, or eat on your own again. What was their reaction to you running out of the hospital, you know, a couple of months later? Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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I don't, I don't remember that. So I was, um, it was never something that was consciously, um, like I was never told that.

Okay, so your parents did not inform you of that?

Yeah, that, that was what I think was important. Okay. Yeah, whether, whether it would affect me or not, I think it would have. It was important that, um, they kept that information from me. So obviously the doctors have to give the worst case scenario. They can't paint a rosy picture, right? Liability, insurance, everything. They, they get, they get sued nonstop if they were doing that. Um, yeah, so I, I didn't know of that.

So your, your goal when you woke up was like, I'm gonna fully recover?

So what happened was, uh, when I came out of the coma and like got my wits about me, got my senses back and everything, it was, um, how it was presented to me was This happened. Yeah, this obviously is not ideal, not what anyone wanted, but now we just have to— we got to do this work and then so we can get back home and get back to living our life. That was always how it was presented to me. So I never even considered an alternative. It was just that's how it was presented.

Yeah, I know you mentioned you were in a coma for a while. Did you ever have an— or do you remember leaving your body or anything like that?

No, I get that question all the time. So the— as I'm sure you can imagine. Yeah, no, it was interesting because like I mentioned, that period from February 5th to March 5th, 2003, that's for the most part, that's gone. I have no memories of that period. Um, yeah, I, I can't even, um, yeah, I get nothing. And, um, it's actually, I, I think that's for a reason. Like, they didn't want me to, they didn't want me to remember that. So, um, I think I'm fortunate that I don't have any memory of that time.

Yeah, so that the, the step process that you, you came up with, is that just something that— did your parents help you with that, or did that just come from within you?

Oh, all right, so I'll tell you exactly how it came about. Um, the— all right, so I was doing, and I've, I've been doing, um, really since I graduated from high school, because that, that's kind of where we really I kind of skipped ahead a bunch, but, um, since I've graduated from high school, I've always— no matter what I'm doing, uh, for work and to earn a living, never, um, it's never left me. I've always had this voice in the back of my head, Brian D Smith, it's saying always, yeah, great, Nick, but what you really need to be doing is telling your story from stage and helping trauma survivors thrive with the rest of their lives. So really, since we started holding events in 2016, and 2016 was when I let my real estate license go, I've usually had the opportunity to tell my story on stage at our events for maybe 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. And I always thought, okay, I'm— that's me listening to that voice, that that's me following that guidance. Kind of. Not really, though. So it took until 2019. Someone saw me speak at one of our events, and her name was Sharon Spano. She approached me after and she said, congratulated me and said I did a great job on my talk, but said if I was ever looking to fine-tune my message and bring it to another level, so I could help the most amount of people and have the most impact. She could introduce me to a few coaches and mentors that have helped her along the way.

Hmm.

Well, Brian D Smith, at this point, I wasn't ready yet. I was actually in the final throes of a voice issue that I had been dealing with since 2012. I developed it in 2012. It almost sounded like it was really hard for me to get the words out. I had a lot of tension. In my throat. So I wasn't ready yet. And even when this, uh, woman— when Sharon saw me speak, I was, I was pretty strained. My, my voice was strained at that time. However, I was still able to get through it. How, um, so I wasn't ready yet to take her up on that offer, but I always held on to her card. And then, um, after the voices— after, um So actually, we have a little bit of time. I can, I can tell you about it.

Yeah.

Yeah. The voice, the voice issue. I, I started to get after looking everywhere for basically about a year from August of 2012 to the following year. I was looking everywhere for an answer. I was going to my, my primary care physician. Um, all these different doctors, an allergist, um, naturopathic doctor. No one could tell me what was wrong. I just knew something wasn't right and I couldn't get an answer. Um, eventually I wound up in a, um, well, let me, let me just say this. I on my own went to speech therapy again because I figured I had to learn how to talk him once. Why couldn't I— why can't I do it again? So, um, I went on my own, and for 6 months I was going, I mean, every, every week, every other week, or multiple times a week. Um, and then I was doing all the voice exercises that they said, and nothing was really— it gave me strategies and tips and hints for dealing with the voice issue, but nothing was really fixing it. So after I had kind of exhausted that, in May or June of 2013, they referred me and said I should go to a voice specialist in Boston. So I had an appointment with him in August 2013. And after looking for almost a year, like looking for an answer, no one could tell me what was going on. Yeah, I was amazed when I had an appointment with this voice specialist in Boston, and there are only like 35 of these people in the whole country. So this guy walked in the room, heard me speak, and right away, nonchalantly goes, 'Oh, that? Yeah, we deal with that all the time. We'll get fixed in no time. Go see the front desk and schedule a Botox injection in a couple of weeks.' So I was like, my mouth hit the floor. I was— I couldn't believe it. And I felt so— so I felt like peace. I felt so at ease because here this guy was, he like, he was an expert at fixing this. He knew what I was going through and no one could give me an answer. So I started to get— in August of 2013, I started to get Botox injections into my vocal folds.. And I had to get them several times a year, 2, 3, 4 times a year to relieve the tension. And then when my voice was coming back, I worked with their higher level voice therapist, speech pathologist, to kind of retrain my throat muscles back to how they were before I developed any issue. So I was I wasn't quite ready yet to take her up on that offer. Yeah, that is of like, all right, I want to like explore speaking and seeing if I can help more people. However, I always hung on to her card and it took until May of 2021 after the voice issue had worked its way out of my system. I don't need Botox injections anymore. The last one I got was February 13th of 2020. So I don't— definitely don't need those anymore. I'm able to— able to speak with you here, with you and your listeners. So yeah, I finally reached out to her May of 2021, said, okay, I'm ready, what should I do, who should I talk to? She introduced me to her mentor, Tricia Brooke. And part of the reason why I wanted to I wanted to explore this was because that voice that I talked about, it just wouldn't go away. Nothing I did would, would appease it. It just stayed with me. So I finally, I reached out to her and she introduced me to her mentor, Tricia Brooke. And on that first call with Tricia, there, since that first call, there's been no voice in the back of my head. So she told me, I shared my goals and my story, what I was looking to do. She told me I should do the Speaker Salon, which is you get to be on stage at the Triad Theater in New York City for 6 weeks in a row. And that was in the fall of 2021. That was $25,000. I said yes because I, I had to. I had to, I had to, like, satisfy this voice. I had to, I had to listen to it. I just I wasn't going to live the rest of my life without exploring this. So I did it. And then during the Speaker Salon, Tricia pitched the idea of what it would look like to work with her one-on-one. She told me that she specializes in, in working with speakers to build out their speaker platform. Mm-hmm. I didn't even know what that was at the time. She said that's $75,000. I said, hmm, I don't have that in my back pocket. So I said, give me a week and I'll figure it out. And I went and applied for financing. I was approved, and 6 days later I sent her the money. And it was the best decision that I've ever made because without it— now, she was one that helped me launch Common Goal. Before her, I Maybe I spoke for 10 or 15 minutes here or there. Now I give keynotes to brain injury, 45 and 60-minute keynotes to brain injury associations and other organizations that support individuals that are going through trauma. Also, a big part of that is like speaking with you and your audience today. So, right, she was the one— this is a really long answer to your question, but she was the one that was able to pull the step system out of me. Okay, so, um, I only had a limited number of calls with her, and on our very first call, she said to me, um, all right, so you have this amazing story. Um, you were in a snowboarding accident, your parents are told you wouldn't walk, talk, or eat again, then you ran out of the hospital. How'd you do it? I said, I don't know, I just got up every day and, and did the best I could. I kept working every day. And she kind of leaned in. It was on a virtual. It was like this. We could see each other. So she kind of leaned in a little bit. She goes, no, not good enough. How did you do it? And she kept asking me to the point where I was very frustrated with her. I think that was our first call. I may have ended that call early.

Yeah.

And I'm just so happy, Brian, that we went through that process because she was able to pull the step system out of me. Um, so the step system is just the way— it's really the way I was raised, um, to deal with any, any kind of life challenge, difficulty, anything that's thrown my way during life. And, um, that, that's what the step system is. So Trisha was able to, uh, thank goodness I went through that process with her and I worked one-on-one with her pull the step system out of me, and, um, now I get to share with the world and, and help more and more people because of it.

Yeah. So that, that voice that you, that you hear in the back of your head, do you— what do you, what do you think that voice is?

Uh, to me?

Yeah.

And the more I learn, the more I learn about, um, like spirituality, and, um, I, I think it's God. I couldn't, I couldn't articulate it at that time. I mean, even, even 5 to 7 years ago, I couldn't articulate it, that, that, that's what it, that's what it was, but that's what it is. Um, but that, that's exactly, I've come to learn, yeah, that's God, the universe, whatever, whatever you want to call it.

Yeah.

That great, that higher power, um, other than us out there, that, that's who that is.

Yeah. And so you, you mentioned during the time of your accident that the right paramedic just happened to be in the parking lot. Do you, do you believe that that was orchestrated?

Absolutely. There were so many things that had to break just the right way for me to be, for me to be here today. Yeah. Yeah. A thousand. I was going to say 100%, but 1,000%. Absolutely. So the right paramedic, my goggles cushioning my blow, and then my parents kind of shielding me from the, the doctor's prognosis. All those things had to break. Who knows if I'd be here today if any one of those things didn't break that exact way.

Yeah. So, you know, we all— people go through difficult times, especially people listening to this broadcast today.

We—

because that's why— that's what brings people to Grief 2 Growth. They've gone through something or they're going through something difficult. What do you— we've already talked about that you believe that this was maybe somehow preordained or whatever. But what is it that keeps you going? That keeps you— I mean, as you were going through— I mean, I can imagine at 14 years old, were you— what was your feeling at the time? Were you depressed? Were you angry? What were you going through emotionally?

So, uh, like I shared previously, it was, um, never— it was never presented to me any other way that I had a choice in the matter. Yeah, it was just, okay, this happened, now we gotta like— we gotta do the best we can with the therapy, with the work, with the doctors. Like I would get extra, I would ask for extra exercises. I would share my goal of running out of the hospital with all my therapists. So everyone was on the same page. And then we got to get back home. And that was always just the natural progression. It was never presented to me. Okay, do you feel like getting up today? It was kind of— it was, it was presented a different way. However, I can tell you, though, I am human. So there was a moment of doubt that I had. And the only really credit to my parents, the only moment of doubt that I can really remember when I was in, when I was in the hospital and that was I got up, I had my physical therapist teach me how to shower again. I mean, if you can picture that. So then I would have breakfast and start my morning therapy, physical occupational speech therapy, and after which we'd go for lunch. And it was at one of those lunches that a moment of doubt crept in. Mm-hmm. I can remember, Brian, at the time I was in a wheelchair and I remember just looking over my situation and just being in the wheelchair and I just couldn't figure it out. I can remember turning to my mom who was with me during the day every day. My mom and her parents, that, that was my support. And that's what I talk about within STEP. And just saying, Mom, am I ever going to be able to walk again? And she said, of course you are. That's what we're doing here. So you can get everything back and we go home. Hmm. So this STEP allowed me to take— continue to go and take that next step and just do what was in front of me. Um, and I think that's so important because when you're going through— doesn't matter what you're going through. I even have one of those moments, probably a few of those moments during my voice challenge. And if you think of it, the accident, uh, my accident, being in the coma for a month, and then less than 2 months being in inpatient, uh, rehab in Boston. That was a blink. It didn't feel like a blink at that time.

Right.

Time slows down when you're going through something. It felt like an eternity. However, then when I had to overcome the voice issue, if you think of it, I developed it in 2012. I had my last Botox injection in 2020. I was still dealing with it throughout the rest of the year, like figuring out, is this like, do I need to get another call to get another injection, whatever? So I had doubts throughout that time. I think I'm more proud of that than I am my accident because maybe I have recency bias, but there was doubts. Yeah, there was frustrations. And I kind of— I just wrote about this in my newsletter. It just came out last week. Is during 2019, I think that was the time that Uh, that was probably my hardest year. Uh, however, I think that was, uh, the best year for me just because my resolve, my, um, my attitude, everything was tested too. I got to a point, um, in 2019 where I said, you know what, as long as I'm seeing progress every time I get to— I have to go and get another Botox injection, as long as I'm seeing progress and the doctor is still telling me, wow, you're a little better than you were last time, I'm going to keep working every day, uh, and I'm going to keep doing my exercises, I'm going to keep doing my natural therapies. Uh, remember I said energy has evolved, so, um, I, I do, and I still do to this day, natural, uh, therapy. So tuina, it's like Chinese bodywork, once every 5 weeks, and then myofascial release once every 5 weeks. I do those two things to help keep my energy in tune So in my mind, in 2019, I'm like, I'm going to keep doing my voice exercises, I'm going to keep doing these natural treatments, and I want to keep getting these Botox injections. As long as I'm still seeing progress, as small as it can be, as long as I'm still seeing it, I'm not— there is no give up. I'm gonna keep trying and keep working at this. And it's funny because Um, I had to get one in 2019, in November actually, after I ran a half marathon. Um, and I think it was actually right before I ran a half marathon, so I think it— that drained me and, and used up the Botox, if you will. And then I was bummed out that I had to get another one and call and get on the schedule in January of 2020. And it's ironic because that was the last one that I ever needed. And I just got to that point where I say, you know what, forget everything, I'm going to keep working at this because I keep seeing progress. And that was the last one I needed.

Yeah. So that's the persistence piece of it, right? It's just keeping, keeping going. So It sounds— have you, have you made a full physical recovery from your accident? I mean, you mentioned running half marathons. Were you able to go back and ski?

Yes, I have. I did snowboard after. However, I made my mom cry. So it was, it was the year after my accident. I was— because before my accident, I was a snowboard instructor at the local hill. And I somehow, I don't know how I did it. I convinced my parents that it was a good idea for me to be around it and be around the, you know, my friends and the snowboarding and just help out at the mountain. Well, yeah, obviously temptation proved too much and I ended up borrowing my friend's snowboards without their knowledge and snowboarding. And once my friends saw I could snowboard, they're like, oh, Nick's back. So, um, I did this for a few weeks, and then my mom somehow found out. And I came home that day and she was crying. Um, so I mean, you never— no one ever wants to make their mom cry. So I, I haven't done it since that time. I think it was more just to prove to myself, Brian, that I could do it.

Yeah.

Um, I take that same drive, focus, and energy and apply it to other areas of my life. Like I said, I've done a lot of running. I've done a couple half marathons, 2015, 2019, 10-mile race in 2016, and more recently a 10K in 2022.

Oh, wow.

So, yeah. I'm— I have made a full recovery, if you will.

Yeah. Awesome. So, Nick, tell me about Common Goal.

So Common Goal is— and I kind of breezed over this a little bit— is really my company. It's really what I've been doing naturally my whole life is that whenever someone is in any kind of trouble with a life challenge, like a bunch of people that were unfortunately abused, any kind of a health challenge, any, like, any crisis is getting with them, helping them to get through it, and then so that they can thrive with the rest of their lives. So I've done some speaking for brain injury associations at their annual conferences. I've done some webinars for them, like the Brain Injury Association of America. Um, and it's really— that's what it is. It's the company that, uh, my mentor Tricia helped me start. So before I was working with Tricia, the STEP System, Common Goal, this was just all something that was in my head. Yeah, I, I didn't, um, I wasn't able to get it out into the world and be able to talk about it like I am with you today. So Now I have the STEP, the ebook, which I think now is a perfect time to give the listeners a way that they can get that. So what I went over is just a 10,000-foot view of the STEP system. But if you go to nickprefontaine.com/step, you can download the whole STEP system for free and learn about all about support, trust, energy, and persistence. So yeah, Common Goal is just my company that helped me launch a website, helped me get this ebook going. Right. And also it's the other, like the other speaking and talks I've done. Like I did a really cool talk a couple of years ago in New York City. It's called My Introduction to Stillness Was a Coma. So what that is, obviously I talk about my accent, but that's That was really how I was introduced to meditation. And I think now meditation— remember how I said the E in the step system, energy continues to evolve? So, right, the beginning, at the onset of a traumatic event, the most important thing is to get off the medication as soon as possible. However, today, if you fast forward to present day, That's like I meditate 3 to 4 times a week, anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes meditating and do qigong. Also, like I shared, I get those natural treatments. So that's what energy is to me today. Okay. So yeah, it's just, it's just trying to inspire and help more people to get through, give them a framework that's going to help them get through. Whatever their challenges and be able to thrive with the rest of their life— lives like I have.

Yeah. So people can find out about Common Goal by going to your website, I assume.

Yeah. So if you go to nickprefontaine.com, you'll— I mean, to get the ebook, you can get it right on the homepage, but the direct is /step. However, you'll also find on there several of the talks I've done. That are in that realm. Like, um, my Introduction to Stillness Was a Coma is all about meditation and how to incorporate that into your life. And, uh, then you can download the, um, download STEP, the ebook. And then the only product I have right now, Brian D Smith, is the, um, the STEP video series. So, um, that's the next best thing to working with me one-on-one is, um, I actually take you through each letter and help you identify with your own workbook for each letter: support, trust, energy, and persistence. So I help you identify what— who your support is, what is the evidence that you have to trust, how you can focus on your energy and persist. Finally, P, persistence. As long as you're doing those three before, you can continue to move forward every day. Um, and build that unstoppable momentum. So that's the only product I have, uh, right now. It's $37, but, um, it's really the next best thing to working with me one-on-one, and I encourage anyone to pick it up.

Yeah, and people can work with you one-on-one as well.

Yeah, absolutely. They can reach out through the website for sure.

Yeah. Well, um, Nick, anything that I didn't ask you that you wanted to get across today?

Yeah, um, I mentioned— I almost forgot— I mentioned because I don't— I just treat it naturally. So if comes up, like, um, the other, like, the real estate portion of my story, I can't hide it. It's who I am. It's like what I do and everything. It's part of my story, right? However, so the real estate portion, if anything that I mentioned, uh, real estate related was of interest to you, and, um, like how we're buying and selling homes creatively without using any of our cash or credit, um, you can go to our website, Smart realestatecoach.com/masterclass, and there you can get registered for a free masterclass that's going to teach you all about how we buy and sell on terms, is what we like to call it. Um, at the end, if you're interested in learning more, you'll be able to take your first step.

Okay, awesome, awesome. Well, Nick, thanks so much for being here today and for being such an inspiration.

Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for having me.

Yeah.

All right.

Have a great rest of your day.

You too.

Grief doesn't follow stages, timelines, or rules. If you've ever wondered, am I doing this right? You're not alone. That's why I created the Grief Check-In. It's not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. It's simply a gentle way to understand how grief may be showing up for you right now. In just a few minutes, you'll gain clarity and language for your experience without judgment, labels, or pressure to move on. If you're wondering where you are in grief, this is a safe place to find out. Go to grief2growth.com/checkin. That's grief, the numeral 2, growth.com/checkin. Hi there, I'm really excited to tell you about my latest ebook. It's 4 lessons that you can learn from the near-death experience without going through all the trouble of dying to learn them. I've been studying NDEs for several years now. I am completely convinced that not only are they 100% real, but that there's some very universal wisdom that we can get from the near-death experience. And I've distilled that down in this book into 4 short lessons. And I've also given you all the reasons why I believe that NDEs are absolutely real. So go to www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons to pick it up for free. www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons. I hope you enjoy it.