This summer, I spent a lot of time reading, writing and reflecting.  One of the most influential books I read is just 36 pages long, but is power packed with wisdom, insight and motivation.  It’s called You Squared by Price Pritchett.  It is basically an instruction manual for taking a quantum leap in your life.  Pritchett says that we don’t have to be content with incremental, gradual change through the application of hard work.  Rather, we are capable of an explosive jump in performance at an accelerated rate, AND it requires less effort.  Interested?  Ya, me too.  Here is a summary of the big ideas in this incredible little book.

Quit Trying Harder – Trying harder only produces incremental gains.  A quantum shift is an elegant solution requiring less effort.

Ignore Conventional Approaches – A quantum leap requires an abrupt change in behavior. It requires finesse over effort, simplicity over complexity, a new paradigm and a fresh perspective.

Think Beyond What Common Sense Would Allow – Quantum leaps require “uncommon sense.” Rethink your thinking.  Violate the boundaries of the probable.

Suspend Disbelief – Act as if your success is for certain and proceed boldly.

Focus On Ends Rather Than Means – It is crucial to have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish.  Solutions will appear. Draw the map as you go.

Rely On Unseen Forces – When you focus on the clear picture of what you want to accomplish, and move confidently toward it, unexpected and unknown resources materialize.

Choose A Different Set Of Rules – You can never avoid risk, you can only choose which risks you will take.  Risk believing in yourself.  (I love that!)

Trust In The Power Of The Pursuit – Dreams begin to crystallize into reality when they are pursued, because the world behaves differently when you go after what you want.

Seek Failure – Unless you are willing to fail, you will never have the opportunity to test the limits of what you are capable of accomplishing.

Get Uncomfortable – Quantum leaps jerk you out of your comfort zone.  If you aren’t experiencing discomfort, the risk you are taking probably isn’t worthy of you.

Open Your Gifts – There are unused gifts waiting to play a role in your quantum leap, open them.

Fall In Love – Create a dramatic dream that goes beyond the ‘reasonable’, and then allow it to become your “magnificent obsession.”

Make Your Move Before You Are Ready – You don’t prepare for a quantum leap, you make it!… and then you fine tune as you go.

Look Inside For The Opportunity – Everything else that’s needed, comes from inside you, not from anything outside you.

I feel like I’m in the middle of a quantum leap in my life.  In just a few days, I will be embarking on one manifestation of that leap, when I leave on a three-month journey to Thailand.  This is a self-made spiritual pilgrimage of sorts where I plan to go deep and allow myself to just BE. This time of BEING, is part of the ‘dramatic dream’ I have created for myself, and I believe lays the foundation for bringing the rest of the dream into reality.  I will be staying at a raw food spa, The Spa Resort, in Chiang Mai for the first month and figuring out the other two months while I am there.  Much of my ‘being’ time will be spent in meditation and study and exquisite self-care through yoga, massage, infrared sauna, and gorgeous raw foods and juices.  I invite you to share in my journey as I post videos and observations from my time there.

If you choose to join me on this journey, I invite you to consider what area of your life may be calling you to make a radical shift, a quantum leap.  I encourage you to consider the principles Pritchett presents, and then…  just do it.  Make the leap… and trust that all the power of the Universe is there to support you.