Defining Breakthroughs

Breakthroughs are a poorly understood concept in most leadership conversations.

Today, we’re going to start by creating a definition of an ontological breakthrough, and then we’ll work through that in our subsequent articles.

Ontologically speaking, the definition of a breakthrough is this:

• Access to a new way of being that was previously unavailable, regardless of your circumstances

We can break that down:

1. A new way of being

• This part of a breakthrough helps us isolate it from what you are doing. Breakthroughs operate in the realm of how you are being, not what you are doing.
• It’s possible to start taking a new action, with the exact same underlying experience of your life. In fact, this is often why people feel frustrated or resigned with their attempts to change.
• Sure, the CEO is now practising the four-hour work week, and is taking micro-vacations and retirements and all of that, but they notice that their brain is still racing a mile a minute, they’re having a hard time slowing down, and they still don’t feel that relaxed.
• We are looking to support you to have a new experience?in your life, not just shift up what you’re doing on the surface of that.

2. Previously unavailable

• If you were already walking around feeling joy all the time, then feeling more joy probably isn’t going to be a big breakthrough.
• Generally, breakthroughs pierce the veil of what you had previously given up on in your life. This is a net new way of being.
• It’s important to caveat here that this doesn’t mean you never ever felt this way before — simply that it was fleeting, elusive, or often felt underrepresented in your experience of life

3. Regardless of your circumstances

• This is the big whammy.
• Being able to have the experience you want regardless of your circumstances. When people create breakthroughs from this place, their life opens up and more of the richness that is our birthright can be experienced.
• Consider the difference between you telling everyone at your office not to disturb you for a one hour block each day, versus you having an ongoing experience of peace, spaciousness and time, regardless of what is happening at your office. (Even if people interrupt you during your sacred time, you still have access to that experience).
• The former is managing your circumstances to try to create an experience. You get to have peace, provided everyone does what you tell them to, and provided they don’t interrupt you.
• The latter is a breakthrough. Regardless of what people around you do, you now have access to peace.

The last thing that is helpful, when distinguishing a breakthrough for yourself, is that it is towards something new, rather than away?from something.

So, I might declare a breakthrough for myself in Connection, because that’s the new way of being I want access to — regardless of whether I’m feeling stupid, sad, upset, angry with people, they’re not making eye contact with me, etc.

That would be different than something like “I want a breakthrough where people don’t disrespect me”. That’s about my circumstances, how people around me show up, and about what I don’t want.

We’ll elaborate and build on this definition as we go forward, but for now, this provides us with a bit of an understanding of what we’re playing with when we’re talking about breakthroughs.

As a practice, take on asking yourself what might be a breakthrough you’d like to create for yourself over the next couple of months. What is a way of being you would like to experience in your life, that may not be particularly present for you currently?

Remember that publicly declaring this kind of thing supports your shift — share in the comments.

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