Breakthrough
Newsletter
VOLUME XIII ISSUE NO. 7 | JULY 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.
Working with the Future Beyond Hope and Fear
By George Pitagorsky
The feelings of tension, deep sadness, anxiety, and/or anger that come up when thinking about the future are symptoms of fear. Accept and explore them to recognize your calm center, beyond hope and fear. From there you can proactively do what you can do to cut the roots of fear and create the kind of future you want.
 
Fear of the Future
Someone has come for advice on two issues. 
 
First, he is obsessed with the fear that the U.S. will be taken over by authoritarian racists. The fear keeps him up at night. It is all he thinks and talks about. He is seeking an alternative passport to enable an escape if one should be necessary. He works to creatively get out his message of impending doom through his art. 
 
He makes a good rational argument, pointing to the election of Trump, association with violent racist groups, the Republican party's moves to Gerrymander and suppress voting by people who are likely to vote against them, and more. He compares the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress to the Beer Hall Putsch that foreshadowed the Nazi takeover of Germany several years later.
 
His second issue is that he suffered a physical injury and fell into a depression thinking that he would not be able to do his life affirming creative work. Just as with his fear of a racist takeover of the country he was focusing on an unpleasant future and confronting his vulnerability and lack of control.
 
It seems that many of us, at some point, confront the fear of loss of control and of a terrible future.  These two are closely linked. No one controls the future and anxiety arises when expectations are that the future will be unpleasant.
 
The future may be minutes or years away. The anxiety may be triggered by an unexpected call from partner, boss or client, or by contemplating old age, sickness, and death.

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Coaching for Happy, Resilient Effectiveness

George Pitagorsky offers individual and team coaching with a foundation in mindful awareness, systems and process thinking, and wisdom teachings. The goal is sustained optimal performance - effectiveness, happiness, resilience, and adaptability.

Read more
self-awareliving.com
Using the Energy of Fear
One may ignore, deny, or use the energy of fear to awaken. Ignoring and denying are short-term solutions.
 
Siddhartha, before he became Buddha, was confronted with four messengers - old age, sickness, death, and the yogi. We meet the first three as natural parts of life. Some are fortunate enough to meet the fourth and get the message that one can work on him/herself to awaken to be free from fear.
 
Don't let fear take over. Fully experience fear while not being driven by it into a freeze, fight, or flight reaction. Use the fear as a motivator for positive action while taking on a new relationship with the fear and its causes. 
 
Fear and Clinging
The root cause of fear (as with all unpleasant emotions) is attachment. Attached to pleasant outcomes, when thoughts of not getting what we want are strong, we experience fear. Hope breeds fear if one is attached to what is hoped for.
 
That word "attached" is the key. Accept what comes with an attitude of "It is what it is" and the root of fear is cut. Cling to a fixed idea of the future and fear will arise as an obstacle to getting what you want. Ignore the reality that you might not get what you want, and you lose the opportunity to overcome obstacles to success. Give in to the fear of failure and you won't try. 
 
Acceptance and non-attachment enable accomplishment by eliminating the unnecessary energy drain of clinging to wanting things to be different than they can be. 
 
You cannot change the past or present. You can change your attitude about them. You may be able to influence the future to get what you want.
 
Accept Reality
Warriors cut the root of fear by accepting the reality of their own death and overcoming attachment to their ego self - their body, intellect, and personality. Without the fear of death and with the acceptance of defeat they can more likely succeed. They can overcome the negative mental states that cloud the mind and get in the way. 
 
Until the root is cut, put mindfulness to work. Change the scary-future story (after all, it is just a story). Cultivate a view that recognizes the reality of impermanence, uncertainty, and a continuous process in which everything is changing moment to moment. Learn to thrive in free fall with no solid ground underfoot, no walls, and no roof. Find the indestructible calm center, beyond hope and fear and from there proactively do what can be done.
 
Short of all that is medication, which if skillfully used, can help temporarily. You can anesthetize, but the anesthesia will wear off and have unpleasant side effects.
 
Cutting the roots of anxiety is neither easy nor quick. It requires effort, courage, perseverance, skillful use of meditation, contemplation, and psychological practices, and a deep experiential understanding of how things are.
 
"It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river cannot go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean."
-Khalil Gibran
 
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.