Breakthrough
Newsletter
VOLUME XV ISSUE NO. 1 | January 2023
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.
Endings and New Beginnings: Accept and Let Go
By George Pitagorsky
Look at life mindfully and it becomes clear that every ending is a beginning and every beginning an ending.
 
We celebrate many new year days - solar, lunar, Jewish, Asian, etc. But really, every day is the beginning of a new year, a time for resting in the present, reflecting on the past and looking at what lies ahead. Remembering this helps to avoid the pain of change by accepting what was and what is, and skillfully letting go into doing what you can do to influence the future. Accept that while you may have some influence you do not control the future.
 
Let go into performance allowing your skills and experience to be in Flow. Accept the results, learn, and let go some more. It is like a person who is clinging to a branch on a steep riverbank with a fast moving river below and no way to get up the bank. Keep clinging and he will be tired and defeated by the time he is forced to let go. He will probably drown. Choose to let go, and he'll have the strength to swim and navigate with the current and, maybe, survive.
Self-Aware Living - 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. Our content is based on George Pitagorsky's personal...

Read more
self-awareliving.com
Beginnings and Endings
Endings may bring relief, joyful celebration, regret, or grief. Sometimes a mixture of them all. Beginnings bring uncertainty. There is no knowing what will unfold. They bring the challenges of accepting, letting go, learning new skills, and unlearning old habits that are no longer useful. Beginning means refreshing old relationships and building new ones.
 
Objectively Observe
Objective observation of inner workings - the thoughts and emotions that drive behavior - enables the clarity needed to accept the past and present and then plan for and let go into the future. Make your plans subject to change as life unfolds. Cultivate dynamic balance - like a surfer or skier.
 
What is the best you can do to make the future a happy and healthy one? You can resolve to:
  • Cultivate self-awareness and trust but question your intuition.
  • Let go of habits, unfounded beliefs, and biases that get in the way.
  • Cultivate healthful values, practices, compassion, and kindness.
  • Think clearly, question everything, check facts, weigh alternatives, have rational expectations, and make rational decisions, knowing everything is subject to change and that there are some things that are beyond concept and intellectual knowing.
  • Promote well-being for yourself, others, and your planet.
 
It is simple but not easy until it becomes effortless. It takes intention, patience, courage, and effort to change the habits and beliefs that have taken decades to cultivate. 


Emotional Support for Ukraine  
       
To support people experiencing the horrors taking place in Ukraine, we have published and wish to distribute freely

"How to Manage Difficult Emotions and How to Support Others"

in English and Ukrainian. Please pass the toolkit on to anyone who can benefit from it or can distribute it further.


Emotional Support for Ukraine is a small ad hoc group of coaches seeking to help relieve the suffering of those under fire, refugees, and helpers across the world. 
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.