Burns Jacq - The Art of Possible

THE ART OF

POSSIBLE

First published in Great Britain by Black Mustang Press 2015 www.blackmustangpress.com

Copyright Kate Tojeiro 2015

The author asserts their moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-9932369-0-7

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932369-1-4

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 1ED Typeset by Sheer Design and Typesetting

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The Art of Possible is written and published as an information resource and guide intended to educate the reader. None of the information constitutes a professional intervention.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

The authors cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage suffered as a result of complete reliance on any of this books contents or any errors or omissions herein.

THE ART OF

POSSIBLE

KATETOJEIRO

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ARACELI CAMARGO MSC,

COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTIST, KINGS COLLEGE LONDON

For Tabi and Sophia

CONTENTS

Chapter 1.Grow your brain16

Chapter 2.What is success for you?28

Chapter 3.What do you want?39

Chapter 4.Procrastination is okay60

Chapter 5.New experiences + new thinking = new results68

NEW HABITS FOR BRAIN PLASTICITY TO LIVE THE ART OF POSSIBLE

Chapter 6.Random thoughts can provide concrete answers82

Chapter 7.Acknowledge your strengths in order to grow them99

Chapter 8.Capitalise on curiosity and learning110

Chapter 9.Use your talents to get unstuck123

Chapter 10.Attention to detail pays off136

PART 3

USING DIFFICULTY

Chapter 11.Shake off doubts146

Chapter 12.When the going gets hard, resilience gets going 158

Chapter 13.Use your fear173

Chapter 14.Confidence can be built183

PART 4:

THE NEW WORLD LIVING YOUR ART OF POSSIBLE

Chapter 15.Be happy194

Chapter 16.Be truly alive203

Chapter 17.Keep the momentum213

Chapter 8.Share & mentor220

Greater Heights225

Acknowledgements229

About the author231

Contact us232

FOREWORD

Kate is that very rare and special coach she is understanding and sympathetic whilst also being straightforward and hard-hitting as appropriate. Having experienced her energy, patience and resolve at close quarters, this book is not to be missed insights that will change your approach to dealing with your everyday challenges. Most of all, Kate makes the complex simple and the impossible achievable. Buy two copies as you will want to lend it to your loved ones and you wont get it back!

Ren Carayol, MBE

INTRODUCTION

Everyone irrespective of talent, wealth or privilege, has to face down their fears, conquering things that we previously considered unimaginable. It isnt a comfortable process, but it is the sweet spot we arrive at when we reach our goals that makes life truly memorable and really worth living.

What will truly help us to realize our full potential will be our ability to become comfortable with discomfort, a state of mind that allows us to overcome obstacles and explore new possibilities for ourselves. Be it a new career, a promotion, travel, adventure, learning a new skill - the list of possibilities lying in wait for us in endless!

Both personally and in business I am always asking myself and my clients: Why do we make the choices we do? And most importantly, What drives us when we take a step up to do something we thought was impossible?

What is it that motivates successful people? When they take a leap across the fine line between success and failure, what is the number one thing that they do differently from the rest of us? What is the thing that they think and then act on which makes them succeed?

The answer is that they get comfortable with discomfort, push past their boundaries and constantly expose themselves to new and different experiences, many of which can feel hard and gritty. This CAN DO attitude ultimately enables them to really work their muscle of potential and to realize what is truly possible for them.

The Art of Possible will help you follow your passions and dreams and make them a reality. Through using the power of your brain, as well as your skill and experience, to greater effect, you can realise your own potential, setting and following the path to the life that you want to live.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

What on earth am I doing here? What have I done? I thought to myself, or may even have said out loud, given that there was just the wildlife for company. I was sitting astride an off-road motorbike, a machine which frankly terrified me, half way up a mountain in the Pyrenees.

The challenge Id undertaken was to ride for four days over the Pyrenees across several hundred miles of steep, rocky, wet, muddy, rutted and treacherous tracks.

By anyones standard, this was a serious trip, and one for experienced and competent off-road bikers. The trouble was I was an ambitious beginner. In fact Id never really ridden a motorbike until nine months previously.

To compound my sense of being out of my depth, Id discovered that my travel companions on the trip were all semi-professional bikers, some of whom had competed against off-road heroes, like the three-time world champion David Knight OBE.

When signing up for this extraordinary trip I had been blissfully unaware of the calibre of biker I was going to be riding with, or indeed the gruelling nature of the terrain fortunate really, because had I known the full facts I might never have signed up for the trip, which would have meant missing out on the greatest life lesson Ive ever learned.

What had partly contributed to my decision to undertake this challenge in the first place was falling for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in their TV series Long Way Round, which followed their three-month motor biking trip across 12 countries. It seemed like such a wonderful, romantic idea to set off on a bike into the wide unknown.

But my main motivation for going on this insanely demanding trip, was the heart-wrenching memories of the very poorly children Id seen in Great Ormond Street hospital when my daughter was poorly and had an operation there some years earlier. The experience had left me determined to raise as much money as I could, to help both Great Ormond Street Hospital and another childrens charity. Learning to ride a motorbike off-road and get the trip sponsored seemed the perfect answer.

So there I was on day one of the trip, so out of my depth that it was laughable, yet having an epiphany of sorts. Im no stranger to being uncomfortable; Ive worked with many intimidating, and some might say, downright scary CEOs and business leaders in my time. But the difference is that in a boardroom one doesnt face the threat of seriously injuring oneself by falling off the side of a mountain, through performing an ill-conceived motorbike manoeuvre.

Alone on that mountain, I realised that the only way I was going to be able to move forward was by digging deep. I asked myself, What is this trip really all about? I was discovering that this was just as much a journey on the inside, my inner journey, as it was a journey on the outside.