2Weeks2aBreakthrough

Example of How to Generate a Breakthrough

Fellow blog pal (and More Space coauthor) Evelyn Rodriguez is playing big. Her story and her project are excellent examples of how to make things happen. You can tell from her words and actions that her tsunami anniversary artisan journalism project is going to make a big difference - to many people including Evelyn. Check out this post.

What do you feel this strongly about? This committed to? This engaged in?

P.S. Sometimes the breakthroughs can occur by being a supporter of big things. I just became a sponsor of Evelyn's project and feel great.

Whose work do you admire? Get chills just thinking about? Want to be a part of?

More Space and Breakthroughs

I was taking another look at, More Space. You remember this book, right? It is a book of 9 essays/chapters, each written by a business blogger on a topic of their choosing. The project is the brain child of Todd Sattersten, from A Penny For and 1800CEOREAD.com. Todd is also the editor, publisher, and project leader.

I am one of the 9 authors. My essay is called Breakthrough Experiences and the writing of this essay was really the first time I sat down and laid out my thoughts about breakthroughs. You might say that the essay helped put the 2 Weeks program and upcoming book on the map. That's a breakthrough in itself!

Anyway, looking at the essay, I am happy with the structure and information. I share my definition of breakthroughs (I have shared this on the blog too), and what I think are breakthrough catalysts, inhibitors, and actions (I have not shared this on the blog). I researched several books for the essay, too.

Over the next month or so, I will share more from the essay. In the mean time, you can download it for free or hear a reading of it on the More Space Blog.

The official pub date for the book is October 25th, but if you preorder it from 1800CEOREAD, you get a bunch of freebies.

You can check out more on the More Space blog here.

You can preorder the book here.

It's a cool project and I am proud to be rubbing shoulders with my smart co-authors!

Want to improve your swing? Ignore it.

I was traveling for almost two weeks. I had a couple gigs and did a pit stop in Florida to see my mother and father. My dad and I have a ritual that we always play golf together. This last game was great - my best ever. We were playing fast enough that we had two guys ahead of us wave us through. That had NEVER happened to me.

Let me just say that I stink at golf, so "better than ever" is relative. Here's the interesting thing. The last time I played golf is with my dad a few years ago. I have not hit a ball or swung a club since then. We did not shoot a bucket of balls first either, we marched right up to the first tee. And with only a single practic swing, I hit the ball nice.

There have been many books about golf that discuss the mental aspects and how the more we think the worse our game. Perhaps this is what is in play here. I don't really care about my score. Sure, when I hear that nice sound when I connect the club and ball perfectly, it is sweet. But I am playing to have fun with my dad.

I believe we overthink many things. Perhaps we are getting in our own ways by practicing and not just getting on with it!

Commit to a Breakthrough

One way to ensure a breakthrough is to plan one and then commit to it. Let's say you want to complete a project, but are beleaguered by interruptions and such. I'll use writing a book as an example. Ask several friends to review a chapter that you have not even started, or are just messing with. Give them a date that you will have the chapter complete and to them. Make the date a challenge, but doable if you focus. Once you have committed and put the structure in place for your wee miracle to occur, you can make it happen.

Personally, this method is one of my most tried and true. I respond very well to deadlines, especially if I have committed to them in a way that involves others. Promising ourselves is often not adequate -  we need to let other people know what we declare.

This practice combines all three elements of my daily practice: telling people about our goals, taking action, and making requests.