The Breakout Principle: How to Activate the Natural Trigger That Maximizes Creativity, Athletic Performance, Productivity and Personal Well-Be

by William Proctor and Herbert Benson

Book Overview

Would it surprise you to learn that to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem, you need to get up and leave the room? A walk in the woods will help you finish your novel? Humming can make you a better tennis player? Or completely giving up is the way to succeed?
In The Breakout Principle, the bestselling author of The Relaxation Response delivers the ultimate self-help principle -- simple instructions to activate a powerful...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743223985
• ISBN13: 9780743223980
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This book has changed the way I do my job

The Breakout Principle has completely revolutionized the way I work...I don't stay in the office for 12 hours a day before a big presentation...I prepare carefullly and thoroughly and THEN I GO HOME AND RELAX. Always, and I mean always, my presentations are clearer, have more energy, are more relaxed and creative. All that time away from your work, time I always thought of as play or even goofing off, happen to be incredibly valuable for generating new ideas and having the energy to get things done. A great book that's changed everything for me.

deserves much more than 5 stars a must for achieving goals

Anyone who has ever tried to gain mastery in any field would notice that after a while of dedicated practice, you tend to plateau. After even more practice you make a burst, but then you'll eventually hit another plataeu. Once you learn the easy principles in this book, you'll learn how to consistently improve your mastery and supercharge your life in any area you choose without having to level off. You feel like you're in the "zone" and a natural high as you break through any limitations you face in life. I've used the Breakout Principle to improve my health, creativity, college school work, solving problems, spirituallity, athletic performance, and my singing (I'm majoring in opera vocal performance and physics). This really is the ultimate self improvement book and I hope you all use it and enjoy the success it can bring in your life.

NOW I UNDERSTAND

NOW I UNDERSTAND why I have bursts of creativity or achieve a "runner's high" (even though I'm just walking briskly) under certain conditions. Benson explains that it's the science--and explains it in a way that I can replicate (he would say "trigger") the Breakout experience at will.The various applications of the Breakout principle are organized by chapter, allowing the reader to think about each application type and to compare and contrast them. Currently our teenagers are applying the Breakout technique in their respective sports activities with some success. I am curious about applying it in an R & D setting where colleagues need to have a "collective" Breakout to develop new, innovative products.This book gives you insights (1) to how the brain functions, (2) to better harness its power and (3) to outperform competitors.

The Breakout Principle to maximize your creativity

THE BREAKOUT PRINCIPLE breaks through to a new understanding of creativity and productivity. I never realized that there was a biological basis for the generation of ideas and insights -and that this biology could actually be switched on at will. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to increase the odds of achieving peak performance at work or play.

Very Enlightening!

THE BREAKOUT PRINCIPLE teaches you a simple yet powerful concept (called the "Breakout Principle") to help improve your life on a long-term basis. The book is clearly written, making it easy for the reader to grasp the principle and learn to put together his or her own personal breakout strategy. I like how anyone - individuals or groups - can apply this concept to his or her life. The authors give great examples of how people from all walks of life with different problems are able to trigger this breakout principle and transform their lives for the better - a family dealing with their fears after the September 11 attack, athletes trying to improve their game, a woman trying to find self-discipline to lose weight, a young man seeking deeper spiritual awareness, and more.THE BREAKOUT PRINCIPLE is a very enlightening book.Fafa Demasio