Breakthrough!: Inspirational Strategies for an Audaciously Authentic Life

By Janet Bray Attwood, Marci Shimoff and Chris Attwood

Breakthrough Your Barriers and Dare to Live an Authentic Life 

You can live the life of your dreams, and Breakthrough! Inspirational Strategies for an Audaciously Authentic Life will show you how. Learn the secret that New York Times bestselling authors Janet Bray Attwood, Marci Shimoff, Chris Attwood, and 18 other experts know: you can consciously create the life you’ve always wanted. 

Here you will find 22 strategies using wit, deep-insight, and heart-centered wisdom to empower you with the knowledge and motivation to create a life of abundance, happiness, health, and love. Covering topics from career to relationships to personal transformation, this international dream team of authors will show you how to finally breakthrough and live the life you were born to live. 

No matter what your circumstances, there is a way to make a change, and this book will be your guide. You will find the inspiration and tools to create a life that is audaciously authentic in every way.  

Contributors: Roger Seip, Ellen Rogin, Nancy Falconi, Gina Calvano, Susie Steadman, Jane Cavanaugh, Una Panting, Dr. Shannon South, Cliff Thomas MD, Shan McLean, Scott Werner, Leslie A. Klocek Pencak, Barbara Edie, Inger Pols, Josephine Auicello, Mary Knight, Maggie Dillon Katz, Wendy Nichols

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
• Release date: Sep 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781618520593

Book preview

Introduction

A breakthrough is an experience of sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe scientific breakthroughs, religious or philosophical discoveries, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective.

Breakthroughs generally follow a process of significant thought about a problem. Often they're triggered by a new and key piece of information, but importantly, a depth of prior knowledge is usually required to allow the leap of understanding. When it comes to personal breakthroughs, you can shortcut the process of gaining new knowledge or experience by learning from the experience and wisdom of others who have overcome the same problem before you. That's what this book is about.

In the pages that lie ahead, New York Times bestselling authors, Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood (The Passion Test) and Marci Shimoff (Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and Happy for No Reason) along with marketing maven, Geoff Affleck, and eighteen transformational authors share their inspirational strategies for an audaciously authentic life.

Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character. The conscious person is able to come to terms with the pressures of being in a material world with all its pressures, influences, and challenges. And everyone has challenges in their life; the authors of this book included.

We've each suffered, endured, and overcome major obstacles. And we believe it's no mistake that we've faced many of the same challenges that you may be facing. No one is given more than they can handle and it's because of these gifts disguised as challenges that we're able to share our strategies for living an authentic life with you in this book.

As you turn the pages you'll hear from Scott Werner, MD who was diagnosed with major health challenges as a baby and as an adult, and how he overcame them and now helps others take back their health.

Perhaps you'll be as surprised as she was when you learn how former stripper and call girl Mary Knight put her background to use in her new path teaching wives "how to keep your husband out of my bed.

After twenty-five years of following his passions as a ski instructor, Geoff Affleck found himself rudderless and searching for meaning in his life. Now after undertaking intensive self-help he shares the three keys to rekindling your passion and finding your life's calling.

And you'll be inspired by Susie Steadman's story of how a life-threatening diagnosis gave her a wake-up call to follow her dreams of working closely with some of the world's biggest musical acts—and how she now inspires others to listen to their own inner rebel and go after their dream career.

Whether you're feeling stuck or challenged in your career, health, relationships, finances, or are just seeking more inner peace, there is wisdom, strategies and tools in these pages that hold the potential to change your life.

1

Resigning as General Manager of the Universe

Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood

I'm exhausted.

You just can't keep going like this, Marci. You're not looking that great, Marci's best friend, Janet, told her. Why don't you join me on a seven-day silent retreat in the Catskill Mountains? I have a feeling it's exactly what you need.

For years Marci had followed her passion to speak, traveling from city to city, leading communication skills courses in Fortune 500 companies. As she traveled, she encountered so many people suffering from low self-esteem, she realized that to really make a difference she needed to find a way to help those people.

So she scoured the country and discovered a little known (at the time) trainer named Jack Canfield. Jack's Self-Esteem Seminars were some of the most respected training programs in the U.S. on the subject. (This was 1989, four years before Jack coauthored a book called Chicken Soup for the Soul.)

Marci took Jack's courses, adopted him as her mentor, and was now traveling the country giving self-esteem workshops. It was definitely more aligned with what she loved—and it was practically killing her.

She'd wanted to be a speaker since she was a kid. She loved it. And yet she had taken on such a hectic schedule that there was no time left for her, and she kept asking herself, Is this all there is?

She wanted to take the next step forward in her career, though she had no idea what that could be.

But seven days of silence?

Jani, are you insane? Marci said.

Marci was a speaker. Speakers speak. She loved speaking. Why in the world would she give it up for seven days?

And yet she was exhausted.

Marce, Janet said, I know it's scary, but from all that you've shared with me, you really need to create a vacuum for something new to come in to your life. You need to totally let go. What better way to do that than by going into silence? Think about it: You'll be going on a total electronic vacation—no computers, no phones, no anything. This just might be the thing you need for the next great phase in your life. C'mon, it'll be perfect for you!

Marci was a master at making things happen, of taking action, of being in control. The thought of not talking for a whole seven days terrified her. God forbid, what if she missed something . . . What if something happened while she was gone . . .

Yet, Marci knew Janet really loved and cared about her. Reluctantly, and feeling desperate for a miracle, with zero enthusiasm, Marci weakly replied, OK.

During the first four days, her fears were realized. Silence was excruciating. Writing notes helped some, but she was counting the days until she could talk again.

But on day four, in the middle of a meditation, a lightbulb turned on in her head. Inspiration had struck . . .

And then it was almost unbearable. She knew she had just come up with a million-dollar idea, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She had promised Jani she'd stay in silence for the entire seven days, and if there is one thing Marci is, it's true to her word.

On the morning of the eighth day, it was all she could do not to burst from her room, sprint past Jani like a roadrunner on steroids, and pounce on the nearest pay phone.

Excitedly she dialed the number of her mentor, then, sitting on the edge of her seat, waited for him to pick up the phone.

When he did, all she could say was, "Jack! I've got it: Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul."

She held her breath, waiting for his reply. Was this her breakthrough moment, or another trip down Disappointment Lane?

What a brilliant idea! was Jack's reply, and in that moment the bestselling nonfiction book series of all time was born.

You see, until that point, Jack and his partner, Mark Victor Hansen, had written the phenomenally successful Chicken Soup for the Soul book, but they had not even considered writing a series with specialty titles.

Marci's idea led to the creation of almost 250 titles in this remarkable series. She laughingly says that if you've got a soul, there's a Chicken Soup book for you.

For Marci, when she relaxed, took time off, and stepped out of her busy life, she had an idea that led to her becoming the woman's face of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She coauthored seven Chicken Soup books, including Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul. She then went on to write two more blockbuster books on her own, Happy for No Reason and Love for No Reason, both New York Times bestsellers.

Her books have spent a total of 118 weeks on the prestigious New York Times bestseller list and have sold more than 15 million copies in thirty-three languages. Today she is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors in history.

The Formula for Creating Anything You Choose to Have

It is through observing experiences like this that in The Passion Test we outlined what today we call the three-part Passion Test Formula for creating anything you choose to have in your life:

Intention – Attention – No Tension

And perhaps the most important part of that formula is the one most people miss: No Tension. Marci was clear that she wanted to be a world-renowned transformational leader, she had done everything she could think to do to make that happen . . . and it had exhausted her.

It was only when she took a break and stopped trying to solve her problem that her stroke of genius appeared.

Yet as businesspeople, this can be incredibly scary, just as Marci experienced. Most successful businesspeople have gotten very good at being in control.

If you've enjoyed success, then you're probably very careful to make sure all your bases are covered, you take into account every possible unexpected outcome, you are working on multiple projects at once to make sure at least one really works, and you wear yourself out.

Then you try to push on through because you think you don't have any choice.

It's not your fault. Our culture encourages the idea that you have to push through to get breakthroughs, you have to go the extra mile to enjoy success.

This is like those toy wind-up cars that go speeding along, then run into a wall and keep spinning their wheels trying to push through the wall.

Yet, when you are aligned with what you love, with what you care most about, i.e. your passions, then you don't have to try. You can't help yourself. When obstacles arise, they may set you back briefly, but then you make an adjustment and get back on track. It's as if there is an irresistible force that is driving you onward.

And there is.

You have a unique purpose for being alive, and your passions, the things that matter most to you, are the things that are guiding you to fulfill that purpose. The Passion Test is a simple, powerful process to help you get clear on the five things that are most meaningful to you so you can begin to make decisions that align you with those things.

It's because this simple process is so powerful that people like Jack Canfield and Marci Shimoff are among the more than one thousand Passion Test Facilitators who have been trained in forty-five countries.

Yet, it's in the third part of the Passion Test Formula, No Tension, that the real magic happens.

When you relax and stop trying to figure out how to follow your passions, your reticular activating system (RAS) remains active, mediating impulses between your unconscious and conscious mind. So, even though you may not be thinking about the solution to your challenge or problem, your unconscious mind is still looking for one.

Slowing down, relaxing, taking time for silence and reflection allows your unconscious mind to process the millions of bits of data your experience has exposed it to, just as Marci's brain processed all of the data she had been exposed to and came up with a totally new idea that completely transformed her career.

The Circle of Enjoyment

Isn't it ironic that the secret to creating the outcomes you want in your life and your business lies in letting go?

You may not realize it, but you are being guided constantly to fulfill your unique and special purpose for being alive. You just have to pay attention.

Guidance comes in terms of the waves of expansion and contraction. In The Passion Test we called it Nature's Guidance System.

You know what it feels like when you're contracted:

Unhappy – Discouraged – Frustrated – Exhausted – Upset – Worried – Angry – Tense

And you know what it feels like when you're expanded:

Open – Happy – Passionate – On Fire – Excited – Fully Engaged – Caring – Compassionate – Generous

We used to think contraction was bad and expansion was good. Contraction meant something needed fixing so we wouldn't feel bad anymore.

Then we noticed that no matter what we did, sometimes we felt expanded and sometimes contracted. It didn't matter how well we ate, or how much exercise we did, or how rested we were. Sometimes we feel contracted and sometimes we feel expanded.

Then we realized that in times of contraction, everyone's natural inclination is to go within, to be quiet, more reflective. During times of expansion, our natural inclination is to go full steam ahead, get things done, move forward.

It was this realization that helped us see that contraction and expansion are just like breathing. What will happen if you only breathe in? You'll pass out. What will happen if you only breathe out? You'll pass out. Both in and out are necessary.

Both expansion and contraction are necessary for your growth, progress, and success in life.

Contraction is simply a signal, a sign that it is time to stop, take a break, and gain more clarity. Just like Marci, trying to figure out the next step in her career: she had to stop and step out of her busy life, and then the inspiration for that next step appeared.

The Circle of Enjoyment in our ebook, From Sad to Glad: 7 Steps to Facing Change with Love and Power, is based on this principle.

All of life exists for your enjoyment, but you are the one who has to choose—are you going to enjoy your life or not? When you understand the Circle of Enjoyment, you can choose to enjoy every moment of your day, no matter how hard you work or how much you have to do.

When you're working on a project with a deadline, no matter how passionate you are about that project, no matter how much you may enjoy working on that project, and no matter how important it may be to your business, there will come a time when you get tired and it stops being enjoyable anymore.

This is the first phase in the Circle of Enjoyment:

The first step is to notice that what you are doing is no longer enjoyable. This is the point at which you have a choice: You can continue working (enjoying it less with each passing moment), or you can make a change.

For many of us, if we know we have a deadline and it feels urgently important, our tendency will be to want to push through and get it done. Yet, have you ever noticed that you do not create your best work when you are tired and just doing something to get it done? Your best work comes when you feel fresh and excited.

You may need or want to return to your work, or to your meeting, or the report that has to get done, but first you need a state change.

This is the next step in the Circle of Enjoyment:

We have four major states that we engage in during our daily lives: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

The key for moving from contraction to expansion, from not enjoying to enjoying, is to change your state, at least for a few minutes. You can then return to your work feeling refreshed and ready for the next phase.

To know what state to change to, notice what state you're not enjoying. If you're writing or calculating, you're doing mental work; if you're upset with someone, you're in an emotional state; if you're physically exhausted, that's a physical state; and if you feel like life has no meaning, this is a spiritual state.

For example, if you're working on a spreadsheet, or writing a report, or doing the books, you're engaged in mental work. When you stop enjoying these activities, it's time to shift to something physical (take a walk or run, go for a swim, work out, take a bike ride, lie down) or emotional (listen to some relaxing music, talk with a friend, watch an inspiring video, dance) or spiritual (pray, meditate, read devotional literature, spend time in nature). These are state changes.

When you're contracted, everything