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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Big Leap summary
Gay Hendricks
Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level
15 mins
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The Big Leap
Summary of 7 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 7
People often resist happiness, but controlled breathing can help us overcome this fear.
No one said life would be easy, and sometimes it can really feel like an endless swamp of problems, but ask yourself this: Are you really prepared for a life of happiness? Can you even imagine an entire day without having something to complain about?
Everyone has their own inner resistance to happiness, an oddly human trait that deserves some close scrutiny.
Despite spending a lot of time and energy striving for happiness, human beings aren’t especially comfortable or skilled at feeling good or being at peace. School teaches us a lot of things, but there are no high school classes on how to deal with success and happiness.
If you were to take the time to look within and uncover why you resist happiness, the answer would likely be related to fear – a fear of achieving your full potential. Because here’s the thing: when you become the best you can be, that means there’s no more excuse for why you aren’t making your dreams come true.
This is a fear that must be conquered if you truly want success and happiness. Taking the big leap into a life of happiness requires a great deal of confidence.
So let’s explore the ways you can learn to overcome this fear and start taking the right kinds of risks.
The first technique for breaking the fear barrier is breathing.
Back in the mid-1900s, psychiatrist Fritz Perls developed Gestalt therapy, which recognized that fear is, essentially, a sort of breathless excitement. With some focused breathing, you can transform that fear into a positive and powerful excitement that can be used to make great things happen.
Let’s say you’re about to take the stage for a performance or to give a speech. The common reaction to a scary situation like this is for our breath to become constricted, which only makes the fear stronger. But if you take a moment to breathe deeply, you can take control and transform the fear into the powerful energy that lets you take the stage and captivate your audience.
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What is The Big Leap about?
The Big Leap (2009) is a treasure trove of valuable insights on how to overcome the fears and tendencies that stand in the way of lasting success. Hendricks shows us the many ways we can self-sabotage our own dreams and offers practical ways of avoiding these all-too-common pitfalls.
Best quote from The Big Leap
If you say yes to the big leap, you have done the hardest part.
—Gay Hendricks
Who should read The Big Leap?
- Husbands and wives struggling to balance their lives
- Students of psychology and behavioral science
- Ambitious people from all walks of life
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