Breakthrough
Newsletter
VOLUME XIII ISSUE NO. 5 | MAY 2021
Breakthrough
"Productive insight; clear (often sudden) understanding of a complex situation." Free Dictionary

Pop the bubble of conditioned thinking and emerge into the creative realm of "no absolutes," continuous change, uncertainty and unlimited possibilities.

Then, there can be innovation, adaptation and optimal performance.
Performance and Open-minded Mindfulness
Open-minded: questioning everything, accepting diversity and uncertainty.  

Mindful:  consciously aware; concentrated. 

Foundation for blending process, project, engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize performance.
Achieving Great Success 
By George Pitagorsky
Success is accomplishment. Wanting success is both a curse and a blessing.

It is a curse when it is out of reach and a cause of disappointment. A blessing when there is clarity about what success means and acceptance if it is not achieved. Wanting success motivates achieving it. Clinging to success gets in the way.

Great Success - Living Happily and Skillfully
It is said that achieving a single objective is a small success and that the greatest success is living happily and skillfully.

Living happily is founded on the acceptance of things as they are. Those things include our passions, capabilities, and conditions. Living skillfully is persistently being mindfully self-aware, being of service, causing no harm, and dynamically balancing work and the rest of life. These are the basics. They lead to the experience of personal health, healthy relationships, and optimal performance. These are the indicators of great success. Happiness emerges with them. 
Skillful living supports happiness and happiness supports skillful living.

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Mindfulness, Meditation, Self-Awareness

We provide online courses, workshops, podcasts and other web content to individuals, organizations, and consultants with a focus on mindfulness, self-awareness, and process thinking.

Read more
self-awareliving.com
Material Success
When success is measured in terms of material accomplishment - money, power, fame, the best toys, experiences - the pleasure of achieving it is temporary. There is nothing wrong with that. Achieving this kind of success feels good. It is a sign of skillful action and adds to the ability to live well.

However, sometimes this kind of success costs too much - for example working 70 hours or more a week at the expense of health, family, and social life. Material success can become an addiction. The pleasure of succeeding ebbs after a while and the desire for the next achievement drives one on. Then there is the fear of not being able to succeed next time or of losing what was gained.

Or, material achievement may cause one to rest on their laurels - to stop doing the things that got them the success they have achieved. For example, I'm reminded of someone who succeeded in his quest for wealth, starting and growing a company. He stopped doing the things that led to his success, like caring about his customers and employees as individuals and focusing with concentrated attention on his work. Instead, he overspent and distanced himself from the company until he realized how his behavior was undermining his continued success.

Long-lasting Success
Material success is fine, but, when success is seen as a continuous journey and a state of mind, the pleasure of achieving it is without side effects. That pleasure transforms into a sense of satisfaction, the kind of happiness that goes deep and is long-lasting. Great success includes many small successes and failures.

Success is knowing who you are, with the sense that you are enough. That you do not need success to be happy. You cultivate realistic self-confidence in the ability to mindfully face any situation.

The paradox is that success becomes possible because self-awareness brings self-confident happiness. Happiness emerges moment to moment. Self-confidence and self-awareness enable the action required to achieve.

What stops you from being in the moment and feeling like a success right now?

Can you let go of unrealistic expectations and self-limiting thoughts?

Can you accept small failures and learn from them?

Understanding Success
Success is having a clear understanding of what matters, why it matters, and how what matters can be achieved.

What are your goals and values?

What do you want and why do you want it?

What are you willing to do to get it?

Will getting what you want make you happy and for how long?

Is getting what you want possible?

Success can be defined by others or you can define it for yourself. There is no need to take on cultural norms or your parents' and peers' success values. With mindful self-awareness, assess these norms and values and decide which are going to help you achieve great success.

The measure of great success is having a life that is as good as it can be dynamically balancing:
  • Happiness
  • Physical and mental health
  • Relationships
  • Social and economic conditions
  • Being of service
  • Spiritual awareness.

Mindful self-awareness is the foundation for great success.

Explore www.Self-awareLiving.com and past Breakthrough articles to learn more.
How to be Happy Even When You Are Sad, Mad or Scared:

How to be happy...How to be Happy Even When You Are Sad, Mad or Scared is available on Amazon.com. It is a book for children of all ages (including those in adult bodies). Buy it for the children in your life so they can be better able to “feel and deal” - feel and accept their emotions and deal with them in a way that avoids being driven by them. You can order the book at https://www.amazon.com/How-Happy-Even-When-Scared/dp/1072233363
Performance and Open-minded Mindfulness
Open-minded: questioning everything, accepting diversity and uncertainty. 
 
Mindful: consciously aware; concentrated. 

Foundation for blending process, project, engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize performance.
By George Pitagorsky

Success is measured in how well and how regularly you meet expectations. But what exactly are expectations, and how do you effectively manage them when multiple priorities and personalities are involved?
Using the case study of a Project Manager coordinating an organizational transition, this Managing Expectations book explores how to apply a mindful, compassionate, and practical approach to satisfying expectations in any situation. George Pitagorsky describes how to make sure expectations are rational, mutually understood, and accepted by all those with a stake in the project. This process relies on blending a crisp analytical approach with the interpersonal skills needed to negotiate win-win understandings of what is supposed to be delivered, by when, for how much, by who, and under what conditions.
Managing Conflict in Projects
By George Pitagorsky

Managing Conflict in Projects: Applying Mindfulness and Analysis for Optimal Results by George Pitagorsky charts a course for identifying and dealing with conflict in a project context.

Pitagorsky states up front that conflict management is not a cookbook solution to disagreement-a set of prescribed actions to be applied in all situations. His overall approach seeks to balance two aspects of conflict management: analysis based on a codified process and people-centered behavioral skills.

The book differentiates conflict resolution and conflict management. Management goes beyond resolution to include relationship building that may serve to avoid conflict or facilitate resolution if it occurs.
 
The Zen Approach to Project Management 
By George Pitagorsky

Projects are often more complex and stressful than they need to be. Far too many of them fail to meet expectations. There are far too many conflicts. There are too few moments of joy and too much anxiety. But there is hope. It is possible to remove the unnecessary stress and complexity. This book is about how to do just that. It links the essential principles and techniques of managing projects to a "wisdom" approach for working with complex, people-based activities.