What Are You Willing to Give up for Happiness?

By Shohreh Rostami Aftahi Ph.D

How easy is it to get swept up in emotions? When the series of experiences and emotions that consume you seem to forge the path ahead, how can you gain control? How can you push through to betterment when your mind is pulled in a thousand directions? Detach. Focus. Balance. What Are You Willing to Give Up for Happiness? will walk you through some of lifes toughest lessons as if youre chatting with the author over a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon. Shohreh paints her memories as a mother and a leader to reflect on how detaching from ego, replacing the idea of ownership with that of privilege, and finding emotional and spiritual balance amid the storms can be the ultimate recipe for the best possible you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524506216

Shohreh Rostami Aftahi Ph.D

Dr. Shohreh Rostami Aftahi is a professional public speaker, author, and business expert committed to individual and organizational development. Shohreh embodies leadership in action. Shohreh brings more than three decades of in-the-trenches experience to her business coaching practice. Leveraging this valuable knowledge base, Shohreh helps her clients achieve more in less time than traditional approaches. She is known for her dynamic, practical, street-savvy style, which she blends with her real-world experience to connect with each and every client. She then employs her strong communication skills to bring out the best in her clients—both professionally and personally. Powered by situational focus, decisiveness, positive thinking, and a strong personal charisma, Shohreh is an innovative coach for serious-minded achievers. Coach Shohreh focuses on improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and output of her clients’ business teams while passionately helping them to increase productivity and renew their personal work-life balance. Shohreh is a certified business coach and has an MBA and PhD in business management (leadership).

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Shohreh Rostami Aftahi, Ph.D.

www.pathtofullpotential.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 08/24/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

713431

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Inspiration

Chapter One

The Power Of Ownership

Chapter Two

Are You Holding On To Something You Need To Let Go?

Chapter Three

Choices

Chapter Four

The Hidden Messages In Failure

Chapter Five

The Power Of Intention

Chapter Six

Road Map

I

dedicate this book to my father, my mentor, who taught me about humility and compassion; to my mother, who edified the notion of strength and selflessness; to my sister Ladan, my best friend, for her undying support, for her unconditional love, and for believing in me; to my sister Shahla, who has shown me purity in love; to my children, Kia and Noosha, for being the source of courage to find the strength to live and lead an authentic life; to all the individuals that I have had an opportunity to work with, for allowing me to lead you and touch your lives and for your words of encouragement; and last but not the least, to the readers, for selecting to read this book. My hope is the message will leave you empowered to be at your best, to be a leader in your personal and professional life, and to find true happiness.

FOREWORD

I T’S EASY FOR me to recall the moments throughout my life in which I would come home heated by a situation or the behavior of another person. It was those moments that I would spill out to my mom, pouring through every reason why I was justified to feel wronged and how I was undoubtedly in the right. It was those moments in which my mom’s reply would be, So that was the behavior they chose, but what are you going to choose? Pushed further into frustration, all I wanted was for her to validate my emotions. Lo and behold, a mother is always right.

From an early age, she taught me to retract from any situation and analyze as a bystander. To, in essence, detach from my pride, ego, and any solidified sense of black and white and understand the agency I hold in overcoming what’s at hand. Though lamenting is much easier, as a child or an adult, her approach not only resolved the respective challenge but also allowed me to grow and define the character I wanted to behold now and in the future. My mom always told me that if I could learn how to remain flexible in life, I’d be okay. Nothing my mom has taught me has been easy to conceptually or tangibly obtain, but each lesson has equipped me with the mind and the heart to get through life’s next obstacle.

It always brought me a little laugh and perplexity to see how my mom’s teams would seem to follow her professionally through the years and different companies. That couldn’t be normal, right? While some people influence through lecture, the people that will flood to the front of your mind even years after the fact are