I am Anthonie Wurth, former European Judo champion, Olympic athlete and behavior change expert.
ANTHONIE WURTH
I am Anthonie Wurth, former European Judo champion, Olympic athlete and behavior change expert. How did I become a behavior change expert? That story started in 1972, when I first stepped onto the mat at my local judo club. What began as a hobby soon became a way of life. During my teenage years I trained two hours a day, seven days a week. I was determined to be the best. However, I soon discovered that becoming the best required more than unrelenting training sessions. While skills are undoubtedly vital, it’s their application that truly counts when facing an opponent. And the effective application of skills, requires behavior change. Until this day, this lesson hasn’t gone lost on me.
In 1992, I represented the Netherlands at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, reaching the pinnacle of my sporting career. After concluding my career in martial arts, I worked ten years as a business trainer, seeing firsthand how the corporate environment compared to competing in top-level sport. I noticed that companies invest a lot of time and resources in enhancing the skillsets of their employees. But the actual application of these skills hardly received attention. This insight motivated me to develop a methodology that fosters structural and lasting behavioral change. Supported by a team of experts, I tested, developed, and refined this method globally for more than 20 years.
METHODOLOGY
Developing a methodology including a reinforcement program is one thing, but convincing companies that this model significantly increases the return on investments made in training programs is a whole different matter. Hence, it took a while before my model garnered traction in the corporate world. But true to my old Judo mantra, I never gave up. This determination paid off when Hilton Worldwide recognized the value of solidifying the results of their training programs with my methodology. Soon others followed suit. Eventually my program was translated into 45 languages and used in over 100 countries worldwide, making it one of the most sought-after methods in the field.
In 2019 I founded My New Behavior, a company that solely focusses on the creation of meaningful and lasting behavior change, be it for individuals or entire workforces. As earlier with my reinforcement program, one of my old Judo mantras lies at the core of My New Behavior: the effective application of newly acquired knowledge, insights or skills requires behavior change, whether you want to quit smoking, make a workforce uphold the latest safety standards or create a more inclusive and welcoming workplace through DE&I initiatives. With this in mind My New Behavior designed a program that not only cultivates meaningful behavior change, thereby increasing employee engagement, productivity and retention, but also equips managers with the tools to guide this process from start to finish. In other words: with My New Behavior I help people and organizations get better at being better. And that’s what I do best.
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