Breakthrough
Newsletter

VOLUME XVI ISSUE NO.11 | NOVEMBER 2024

Read Past Issues
Facebook  Twitter  Linkedin  
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.

Awaken to Wellness

By George Pitagorsky

Most of us want greater wellness and happiness.


Many are "asleep" or "clueless", unaware that their mindsets, beliefs, and habits are obstacles to their wellness and happiness.


Being Asleep

Asleep in this context means "waking sleep” – going through life as if we were under a spell – without self-awareness (the ability to objectively reflect on ourselves, our relationships, and our performance) and process awareness (the way causes and conditions drive all behavior).


People who are asleep in this way communicate poorly and have dysfunctional or unfulfilling relationships. They repeat the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that interfere with their well-being. They cling to unfounded beliefs and biases that get in their way. They create their own suffering and contribute to the suffering of others. They fuel anxiety, dissatisfaction, depression, anger, and other forms of suffering. They don’t work on themselves.


Breaking the Spell - Waking Up

If we are fortunate, we wake up. An event, image, sound, word, or thought breaks the sleep spell and we become aware, for a moment, of a new perspective and the knowledge that we can see ourselves as if we were an objective observer. At that moment, we are awake.


But that breakthrough doesn't mean that we will stay awake. But once we know the difference between being asleep and being awake, with mindfulness and a little help from our friends, we can do something to have more frequent and longer-lasting periods of being awake, with less and less effort until it becomes effortless. 


Scroll down to continue the article

Coaching – Wellness, Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, Performance


If you feel that you can be happier and more effective but something is in the way, consider coaching by George Pitagorsky.

 

Whether it is a session or two, or a longer or more structured program, George can help you break through the barriers and transform your life.


Schedule an appointment to explore whether a coaching relationship is right for you.

www.self-awareliving.com


Check out my book The Peaceful Warrior's Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living

Being and Staying Awake

Being awake does not mean that everything will be pleasant. In fact, when you are awake, the unpleasantries can be more obvious. But awake you can make the best of everything that comes your way, no matter whether it is pleasant or not. You can be happy for no reason. You can appreciate and learn from whatever life brings you. You can work on yourself.


Awake you are aware that there is an alternative to denial and using mind games, drugs, and other distractions to drown out the noise of worry and strong emotions. You recognize that everything is the result of a process, a continuous flow of causes and conditions that you cannot control but can influence by what you think, say, and do.


This alternative requires the qualities of a peaceful warrior - intention, effort, skill, resolve, patient persistence, and courage.


Become Your Guru

The goal is to be your own teacher-coach-guide.

Teachings point you in the right direction, they help you create your path. They give you concepts, tools, and techniques like process awareness, mindfulness meditation, and breath control, which give you the power to see how your body and mind work. You see for yourself how your mindset with its mental models, biases, and beliefs drives your behavior. Then you can keep what is working well for you and give up what is not.


Coaches remind you when you have gone back to sleep. They help you learn and use the concepts, tools, and techniques. You put them into practice to adjust your mindset to reflect reality and support wellness.


Doing the Work

It takes work to break mental and physical habits and cultivate new ways of being in the world.


Persistence is needed to accept the need for patience and personal effort to get the results you want as you skillfully apply your tools. You need courage because it is scary to accept uncertainty and let go of habits and beliefs that have been at the foundation of your life.


It takes resolve to be ok with the strong and subtle feelings like anxiety that trigger reactive behavior and to overcome unskillful doubts while making sure you question and test what you are doing so you know it is leading to awareness and self-sufficiency.


Are You Awake?

Are you aware of the difference between being awake and in waking sleep?



Asleep, you are driven by emotions and the continuous flow of change, you make decisions without objectivity and without thinking about long-term effects; you repeat unskillful behaviors.


Awake you can step back and respond rather than react so you can achieve the greater wellness and happiness you want.


Are you consciously working to increase the frequency and duration of periods of awakeness? Could you be working smarter? Check out The Peaceful Warrior's Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living for a guidebook to awakening and staying awake.


The Peaceful Warriors Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living


Overcome stress. Perform at your best. Live in optimal wellness.


The Peaceful Warrior's Path is a practical guide for people of all ages, regardless of physical condition. It provides concepts, tools, techniques, and exercises that you can use every day, no matter where you are or what you are doing, to promote a sense of ease rather than angst. It is a motivational program for living resiliently, ready for anything, with health, happiness, and success, passionately involved and at peace with things as they are-and doing it ethically with kindness and compassion.


When it comes to becoming happier and more effective, what matters is your intention, how open-minded you are, and your willingness to work on yourself to change your mind and open your heart. With the right mindset, intention, and effort you might just experience enlightenment.


The Peaceful Warrior's Path weaves together self-awareness, mindfulness, meditation, stress management, and relaxation techniques, and emotional, spiritual, and social intelligence to sustain optimal wellness and enhance performance in whatever you do.


The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living



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.

Managing Expectations: A Mindful Approach to Achieving Success 

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 involaved?


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.


Read More

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.

 

Read More

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.


Read More

Facebook  Twitter  Linkedin  
LinkedIn Share This Email