In 1991 I became European Judo Champion and competed successfully in the 1992 Olympic Summer games in Barcelona. I was among the best Judo players in the world.
Now I am an author, trusted advisor, and frequent speaker at international learning conferences. I am among the best Behavior Change experts in the world.
Founder and CEO of Behavior Change Champion
To help you see the world differently and create impact on lifelong learning and lasting behavior change we need to be special to make you special. Get inspired by Anthonie’s story.
I was born in 1967 in the Netherlands. My father and grandfather were successful entrepreneurs. My mother and grandmother supported them and my younger brother and I admired them.
Understanding the importance of hard work and self-discipline, I started practicing Judo at a very young age.
My coach (who later became my father-in-law) quickly noticed how dedicated I was. I always wanted to practice more and perform better.
When I turned 18, he sent me to Japan to train with the best Judo players. That year, in 1991, I became European Champion. I then competed in the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, among the top 7 Judo players in the world.
The next year, I ended my sports career and entered the learning industry, joining one of the largest training companies in Europe. Over ten years at the company, I trained thousands of participants to develop and master soft skills.
During that time, I compared how Olympic athletes were trained to how employees were trained and noticed a huge difference. I realized that more important than the training itself was the application of the training, or what I call behavior change. In 2004, I finished my career as a business trainer and started to develop a methodology that focused on lasting behavior change.
The drawing to the left is from April 2006. I scribbled it as I passionately explained to my wife, Monique, the methodology I was developing, which I later called “The 7 Principles of Behavior Change.” She just looked at the drawing and said nothing. I still wonder what she was thinking at the time.
That year, I founded Mindmarker to help companies maximize their training efforts, increase retention, and drive behavior change.
I also applied this methodology to change my own behavior. I hesitate to tell you this, but I want to share my full story: After my years of rigorous training and living on a strict diet as a Judo player, I lived the complete opposite way. Working out less and eating more, I gained over 60 pounds and felt ashamed. After a few years of feeling horrible, I sought to regain control over my behavior.
That was when I met the personal trainer Jorgen de Mey, author of The Action Hero Body: The Complete Workout Secrets from Hollywood’s Top Trainer.
After explaining my situation, he called me “a dirty Ferrari.” He explained that at the Olympics in 1992, my body was like a Ferrari — fast, powerful, and lean — and I had to bring it back. I had to change my behavior and honor my body. This was the greatest test of my methodology and I’m happy to say it worked. I ran the New York Marathon. I hiked Mont Blanc. Within 6 months, I returned to a healthy lifestyle and have kept it up. Over 54 years old, still strong and athletic, I can confidently say I changed my behavior with lasting impact.
I gain 20 years top sport experience and 20 years behavior change experience to become one of the most sought-after behavior change specialists. Experienced consultant using a proprietary methodology, translated into 45 languages in over 100 countries.
After being a Behavior Change Champion and educating the learning industry about the difference between learning and applying, I moved the company headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia.
At the time, my brother joined the company as an investor and CEO so that I could focus on presenting the methodology all over the world. At many conferences, I sat at a booth that functioned as a whiteboard and gave training on the spot.
As I was giving dozens of presentations on behavior change, I wrote my first book on the topic in 2009. The book was based on a true story from my time in Shanghai. It focused on how my behavior changed after the Chinese government put me in quarantine on suspicion that I was carrying the Mexican flu.
Then, in 2016, a publisher asked me to write a book about my methodology, “The 7 Principles of Reinforcement.” Two years later, I published my second book that continued to iterate on this proven and successful methodology.
The 7 Principles of Behavior Change methodology is used by many Fortune Global 500 companies and all major global training companies to improve the impact of their training programs, including the Ken Blanchard companies.
I had the honor of meeting Ken a few years ago. His first words to me were, “I like your green pants.” I asked him his size and promised to ship him a pair. When he said he would always remember it, I told him that remembering is just the first step of behavior change. I then talked about my vision for behavior change and how to implement my methodology. Afterwards, he said, “You are today’s Behavior Change Champion.” A few months later, I created a behavior change program for his program called Situational Leadership®.
I am proud of my collaboration with Ken. When they took the picture to the left in 2016, his personal assistant said, “two pioneers in one picture.” I strive to make those words true every day.
Let’s create impact on lifelong learning and lasting behavior change
My brother Kees and I sold the company Mindmarker in 2018. We were proud to have built a well-regarded company for driving behavior change and increasing the impact of many training programs.
Though I sold the company, my focus continues to be strengthening The 7 Principles of Behavior Change methodology. I still give many presentations and lead workshops and private coaching sessions. The more I talk about implementing a Behavior Change Strategy, the more my ideas are challenged and improved.
As the learning industry begins to understand what behavior change is and master the major principles, I have begun shifting my focus to the Behavior Change Design Process so that individual learners and companies can design training behavior change programs of their own.
In April of 2019, I was featured in Talent Development Magazine. To see more on that, click here.
In 2020, I launched the world’s first Behavior Change self-paced program, called mynewbehavior.com. Dit moet ook een lonk zijn naar service page an website (DAWN)
We keep developing all services to support you being the Behavior Change Champion. I hope you’ll join me on this continuous journey.
