I just experienced a significant breakthrough for myself. It happened in an instant and I knew when it happened. I haven’t quit thinking about it since. Therefore, I think this is the perfect topic to address now. I haven’t had one in a while, so when this happened, I thought: “Monette you have to talk about this!”
A breakthrough can happen in your marriage, in your business life, your health, your spiritual life, a sport that you play, or that creative place you express yourself. So, what am I talking about here:
Definition of a Breakthrough
A breakthrough refers to a significant and often sudden advancement or development in a particular field or situation.
I want to focus our discussion on Personal Development, because that is what my work is about. In personal growth, a breakthrough can refer to a moment of clarity or realization that leads to significant change in behavior, mindset, or emotional state.
Three Key Characteristics:
• Significance: Breakthroughs typically have a profound impact on the area they affect.
• Suddenness: They often occur unexpectedly or after a period of struggle.
• Progression: Breakthroughs can lead to further advancements and developments.
In summary, a breakthrough represents a pivotal moment that facilitates progress and change in different areas of knowledge, activity, or influence.
On our life journey, I think this is the ultimate experience. It’s a moment of clarity when you see something different. A knowing. It brings you a feeling of excitement because you know you are on to something big; a fresh new way to look at something.
Here’s what happened to me. As I’ve shared previously, I play tennis on a regular basis. I have been playing tennis for about 20 years. I wasn’t fortunate enough to learn when I was a kid. I picked up the game when I was in my late 30’s. Playing recreational competitive tennis, I have slowly progressed in my game. I love it. It has kept me active. I have taken lessons on and off with a few tennis coaches through the years but have had the same tennis coach for a number of years. That’s the back story. Hang in her with me. This isn’t about tennis it’s about experiencing a breakthrough. Recently, I’ve started taking some lessons with another coach at our tennis club. Something was different. I don’t know if it was his teaching method or the way he explains things—but I just experienced the biggest breakthrough in my tennis game that I have ever had. It was a regular clinic and he said we are going to work on topspin. I thought ok, I’ve been shown this so many times and I can’t do it but ok, thought, I’m open. And something happened, he showed me how to hit the ball with topspin. What to do, what the ball is supposed to do when you brush the ball a certain way and It was the wildest moment. I saw it, I felt it and it was almost magical. I had never experienced that before! I’ve always wanted to improve my forehand and my backhand. When he showed me what I should do, it was like a lightbulb went on. I had never felt that before in all the years I’ve played tennis. It was an ah-ha moment. For me this is huge. I truly had a breakthrough moment. And I have this whole new level of excitement for my game of tennis. I want to play with everyone and anyone. It’s like this piece I’ve been missing. It’s given me a whole new level of confidence. I’m seeing something I’ve never seen before and experiencing something I’ve never experienced before. I hope I’m doing this explanation justice. It’s an unbelievable breakthrough for me.
This isn’t about tennis, it’s about breakthroughs. This experience has just put the idea of breakthroughs on my mind! It’s caused me to reflect through my life when I’ve had breakthroughs in other areas of my life. Those pivotal moments when I got clarity and saw something in a whole new way. Those moments that have been game changers. It’s given me excitement to create something for you to give you the tools that will allow you to have breakthroughs in your life. And to revisit and acknowledge your past breakthroughs. This is what growing improving changing our mindsets is all about.
Breakthroughs, I believe, are the ultimate payback for continuing to stretch yourself, being willing to be teachable, open-minded, and with the belief we can be better.
I’m going to share with you some bullet points of things that can help trigger breakthroughs:
• Breaking Point: Feeling that the current situation is unacceptable.
• Deep Immersion: Spending focused time on the area you want improvement; clearly defining the issue at hand.
• Changing Environment: Seeking new perspectives by changing surroundings or social circles (in my example, experimenting with a new tennis coach).
• Suspending Judgment: Allowing for unconventional ideas without immediate criticism; being Openminded.
• Following Fascination: Pursuing interests that captivate you.
• Perplexity and Confusion: Using uncertainty as a catalyst for new insights.
• Taking Action: Consistently making bold moves toward your goals; being willing to be coached.
• Personal Guidance: Tailored advice for your goals.
• New Perspectives: Challenging your beliefs.
• New Ideas: Reading, or listening to Audible Books, with the goal of being open to expanding your knowledge.
• Critical Thinking that will improve your problem-solving skills; borrowing powerful ideas. And the same holds true listening to Podcasts like mine where on a weekly basis you are exposed to diverse insights.
These are all factors that can lead to a breakthrough, but I’m going to be honest with you. You have to take action! These two things I know for sure, me being willing to want to improve and putting myself in that lesson, I was fully present in that moment and was fully teachable. If I had thought, oh I’m comfortable with the way I’ve always done it, the way I’ve always hit the ball, this new idea to hit the tennis ball with a different approach, would have been just been that, a nice idea. But I believed what he was sharing and trusted him. I believed I could execute what he was saying and applied what he said to do. If I hadn’t done this, I would not have experienced my biggest breakthrough to date in tennis.
I’m so excited about this topic. I’m going to address this topic with a different angle next week. You will miss out if you follow along. We are going to go further on this topic of breakthroughs.
Monette hosts a weekly podcast: Mornings with Monette. She has been a lifelong learner and and appreciates the opportunity to share what she has learned–both through her podcast and here at The Best-Life Project (based on the content of her weekly podcast). Her messages are raw, honest and straight from the heart. She lives in Albuquerque, NM with her husband Leland. They have three adult children and are enjoying living their best lives filled with travel and adventure.