the magic moment along the way.
As did Lesley. Remember, her life-changing epiphany didn’t happen the first time she held a blade. It took a couple of months of parries and ripostes to awaken a sudden and total transformation into who she was meant to be.
You will read of others in this book who did not have to meet epiphany partway. Lightning struck out of nowhere, and they were inspired from day one. That totally happens, and I hope it happens for you. But if it doesn’t, you’re going to have to be ready to do some uninspired work while keeping your brain attuned to receiving inspiration. In coming chapters, I’ll offer advice on using traditional methods of step-by-step behavior change to help generate a sudden leap forward.
There are myriad methods of rapid and significant life change, but all such roads share one undeniable characteristic: a deep emotional sensation that carves a new sense of purpose into a person’s being, like a chisel working on stone. Conversely, the traditional (read: boring) models of gradual, step-by-step cognitive behavior change seem to be lacking in their ability to create passionate adherence. Resultantly, such laborious methods of struggling to develop new habits may not be the most effective way of achieving change.
Sometimes dramatic lifestyle change “just happens” because of reaching enlightenment that arrives beyond cognition. Again, this is not a decision; it is an awakening. Such an awakening inspires one’s determination and dedication to succeed.
Sometimes Santa Claus does exist, and he brings you a gift of overwhelming passion to kick ass at life.
And such sudden change is a scientifically explainable phenomenon one can pursue with purpose, leaving less to random chance, to create a better life. This book is about providing you with actionable tasks that help set the stage for a specific moment: that space in time when something so vital and important takes place inside the mind that your life is divided into “old you” and “new, righteous, unstoppable you.”
It’s the moment the grizzly is released from its cage. Suddenly free, the massive beast looks you in the eye, tilts its head back toward its massively muscled back, and says, “Hop aboard, kid. You and I are going places.”
What Is an Epiphany?
I have a couple of master’s degrees and am a stickler for the science. This book includes references to reams of peer-reviewed journals alongside exclusive interviews with some of the most renowned experts in behavior change on the planet.
That’s why it pains me to use Wikipedia as a reference.
From the ancient Greek epiphaneia, meaning “manifestation, striking appearance,” an epiphany is often described as a scientific breakthrough, or religious or philosophical enlightenment. However, it can represent myriad situations in which deeper understanding is suddenly attained.
The apocryphal story of an alleged apple falling and allegedly hitting Sir Isaac Newton on the head describes when he allegedly had an epiphany about the nature of gravity. Alas, this is not how innovation and technological advancement work.
In his book The Myths of Innovation, author Scott Berkun’s first chapter is titled “The Myth of Epiphany.” In it, he describes the story of Newton and the apple to debunk the popular understanding of epiphany. The author then quotes the primary inventor of the laser, Gordon Gould, to provide an example of how scientific advancement usually works.
In the middle of one Saturday night … the whole thing … suddenly popped into my head and I saw how to build the laser … but that flash of insight required the 20 years of work I had done in physics and optics to put all the bricks of that invention in there.
A pot-smoking teenager watching SpongeBob SquarePants in his parent’s basement isn’t likely to have a stroke of brilliance regarding the nature of light amplification. Gould, a renowned physicist who had worked on the development of the first atomic bomb, spent twenty years of toil working to resolve an enigma, and when enlightenment was finally achieved, some would refer to that as an epiphany. But it is no such thing. It is simply that last piece of the puzzle—a puzzle he’d been working on for decades—being put into place.
Human behavior can work in similar ways. One may have been debating, mulling over, and gathering information about a new path for years, and a life-changing event—that triggering moment—is the final illumination before they are ready to make that sudden switch from unconsciously “thinking about it,” to an instant and wholehearted This is happening!
Conversely, it truly can strike out of nowhere, because decisive behavioral change is not often the same as building a laser or theorizing gravity. It can be as simple as hearing an old song on the radio. You may be driving along, listening to the classic rock station, and Van Halen’s 1992 hit “Right Now” comes on and you feel it; you realize it is indeed your tomorrow, and you decide to catch the magic moment. Such a phenomenon can reshape your sense of being and purpose in life in a near instantaneous wave of emotion that provides you with new insight and motivation regarding the way forward.
Lesley Chapman didn’t dwell on what was wrong with her life or how to change it until that singular moment when she discovered what it was like to feel something right.
For some, they need to hit rock bottom before they’re ready to leap toward the light. You don’t need to be that desperate, but you’re reading this because you know that change—be it moderate or massive—is something you desire. If you feel dramatic change is something you must achieve, then you also need to seek out a transformative moment to initiate such change.
Much of the pre-work involves information gathering and embracing new ways of thinking, but it also requires not letting sudden insight pass you by.
It involves opening your mind, asking the question Is this it?
It’s about looking at the world with an investigative mind-set, in which what you seek is opportunity to change. Inspiration can arrive from anywhere and at any time. Be prepared.
Is. This. It?
Ask yourself that question when you experience something that might be a catalyst for change. Most of the time, the answer to the question is going to be “No, it really isn’t.” But it’s all practice.
It can be because of this practice, the opening of yourself, the attunement, that allows epiphany to strike. Speaking of practice, getting stuck is good.
“When you tackle a problem, and fail to solve it, it sticks in your craw—and your brain.” This is from Professor Beeman’s book The Eureka Factor, coauthored with John Kounios, a professor of psychology in cognitive and brain sciences at Drexel University. The authors explain that ideas can require an “incubation period.” The work you do thinking now doesn’t mean you have your epiphany right now too. You work until you “get stuck.” Then the unconscious takes over while you’re busy doing other things.
In most stories of major life transformation, an epiphany is almost a constant. Many who have experienced massive change can identify a specific instance when their outlook got on track in a much more positive way. Changing one’s body is a powerful manifestation of the moment of change, because a healthy body often equates to a healthy mind, and overcoming the challenges associated with physical improvement also imparts valuable life skills. I mean, unless it’s weight loss resulting from unhealthy methods such as popping unregulated diet pills like they’re Skittles or going on some batshit crazy fad diet some celebrity is flogging. The latest dietary
