Thus, began the journey to seek to understand how I reached this place and moreover, what I needed to do to change. I began investigating every aspect of my life, reading, reflecting and observing. One of the transformational authors and leaders I was introduced to during this period of deep reflection was Dr. Joe Dispenza, specifically his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. This masterpiece helped me scientific deconstruct what had happened to me and helped me come to some clear realizations. Candidly, I didn’t like what I realized…..it became clear that the only time I really felt alive was when I was in the midst of a firefight at work, creating and executing in emergency business situations, which seemed to be plentiful. I had literally become addicted to the chemicals of stress and when it was time rest and recover, I would escape with travel, alcohol or other rush type situations to fill the void. How had this come to be the reality I was living? It was like water over a rock, day by day and year by year slowly forming the pattern. Business crisis leading to “game time” delivery followed by reward…..wash, rinse, repeat. Does this sound familiar?
As business leaders, we are trained to handle incredible amounts of information at a rapid pace which inevitably leads to a heightened emotional state, constantly being “on alert” for whatever comes next. We become adept at rapidly navigating complexity and challenging business situations; this rapid response behavior becomes an unconscious skill and is commonly rewarded by the company culture with promotions, raises, etc. It becomes what “great performance looks like.” Is this a skill that we should be rewarding? Yes, we need to train leaders to solve problems and drive business results but there may be a better, and less costly way, to achieve this end point. What if companies trained and rewarded balanced leaders that are able to perform in crisis situations without remaining in a constant state of emergency or survival?
The greatest news is that Dr. Joe Dispenza saw this as an unmet need in the corporate space and spent years creating two simple models and four tools for change so we can help leaders understand the neuroscience of change and how we can enable the brain and body to work together to regain and sustain balance, even amidst stressful business periods. I am incredibly grateful to have discovered Dr. Joe’s work as it prompted me to attend a live event in Tuscan, Arizona several years after reading Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself and making many significant life changes, including leaving my role as VP of Sales & Marketing to start my company, a Holistic Leadership Development Practice. My mission is to unlock human potential leveraging science-based coaching tools and technologies to help leaders live and lead better. It was early in the development of my company that I attended the event in Arizona and I will never forget the lightning bolt moment when I learned about Neuro Change Solutions and the opportunity to pursue a license to teach this work for companies. It was an absolutely perfect addition to the existing programs I had established to help leaders and has become a significant part of my practice.
Founder of Fülle. I help executives and founders unlock & sustain peak performance while maximizing their fulfillment.
