15 MINUTE PAUSE: A Radical Reboot for Busy People

by Michelle Burke, Lilamani De Silva

Overview

First Place Winner of Readers Views Literary Award 2018/2019 in Self-Help Category

Not just a book. This is your personal self-care coach to more joy and less stress.

15 Minute Pause shows how small simple steps can lead to life changing results.

• Has exhaustion become your new normal?
• Has busyness become a badge of honor?
• Has stress stopped you from taking better care of yourself?
• Do you want more ease and joy?

If you said yes to any of these, then this book is for you. 15 Minute Pause offers proven practical tools and easy tips that teach you how to reduce stress and prevent burnout. 15 Minute Pause helps you step into your personal power with daily pausing - to prioritize you.

Author, Michelle Burke, and CEO of Energy Catalyst Group, is a sought-after leadership, well-being and burnout coach. She has been motivating and empowering women for twenty years and trained thousands of participants to make positive career and life changes. Michelle partnered with co-author Lilamani de Silva MSc, former AP for Discovery Channel, to reveal simple solutions to overcome negative obstacles getting in your way, help you prioritize what matters most and take action so you can have more time to do what you love.

They draw on their work/life experiences, years of research and personal insights to show us how a daily pause can reshape our lives. You're just 15 minutes away from recharging your life. Start today.

Learn how to :

• Improve your mental, emotional and physical well-being.
• Identify and celebrate your top 10 innate gifts.
• Take the Life Energy Inventory and discover which life areas are depleted.
• Find out how the sabotaging "Meddler" voice wreaks havoc in your life.
• Pause, take time for yourself with 100 ideas in 15 minutes or less.

Authors show how a daily pause helps you respond to life's challenges with more ease and helps you to maintain a more positive attitude along the way. Both authors practice taking a daily pause, oftentimes spent outdoors, reading or with loved ones. They are also co-authors of Joy Cards.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999179475
Publisher:	Energy Catalyst Group
Publication date:	07/16/2018
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)

About the Author

Michelle Burke is a highly respected and sought-after leadership and team coach, consultant, strategist, and speaker. As Founder and CEO of Energy Catalyst Group, she has devoted her 20-year career to coaching leaders be more mindful, empowering women and helping organizations become thriving energized workplaces. Her consulting and coaching with Fortune 100, 500 companies and Universities established her as a leading expert in bridging communication, team and cultural gaps. Her clients include: Sony PlayStation, Stanford University, Visa, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Disney, HTC, Snap Inc., Genentech, and HP.She is author of the acclaimed book, The Valuable Office Professional, endorsed by Ken Blanchard. She co-developed The Productivity Cycle™, a communication tool proven to enhance teamwork and increase productivity, endorsed by Stanford University. She is also author of Joy Cards.Michelle is a member of Forbes Coaching Council and completed UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) intensive IPP program. She has been featured in Business Week Magazine, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, and Star Ledger. She was a regular contributor for Great Work Cultures on Huffington Post, and has contributed to Forbes.com. Her articles have appeared in HR, Training and Authority, Medium, Breathe and CLO Magazines. Michelle enjoys giving back to her community, traveling, reading, cooking, walking her dog Jadie and is a sports enthusiast. She is also co-author of Joy Cards.

Lilamani de Silva and Michelle Burke have worked together for 20 years co-creating card games and educational products. Her career has spanned various industries, media relations, and film production. She worked as a clinical auditor at Hammersmith Hospital and as a publicist at London Zoo which led to the production of natural history documentaries for ITV, Discovery and Animal Planet. Her jobs gave her the opportunity to travel the globe and experience different cultures and life perspectives. An accomplished painter, Lilamani's illustrations grace this book and she has sold paintings around the world. In addition to her love of travel, she is a nature enthusiast, enjoys reading, and racket sports. She holds a Masters in Biochemistry from The University of Otega in New Zealand. She is also co-author of Joy Cards.

Table of Contents

TABLE of CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction: Why I Matter

PART ONE—INTROSPECTION

i-Matter Equation: Self-Awareness

Chapter 1 Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 2 Dream Big

Chapter 3 The Way You Think is the Way You Act

Chapter 4 Cup Half Full

Chapter 5 Emotional Shift

Chapter 6 Physical Check-up

Chapter 7 Celebrate Your Innate Gifts

PART TWO—DECISION

i-Matter Equation: Making Conscious Choices

Chapter 8 Conscious Living is a Lifestyle

Chapter 9 Life Energy Inventory

PART THREE—PURPOSEFUL ACTION

i-Matter Equation: Pause for Fifteen Minutes

Chapter 10 Energy Boost

Chapter 11 Mindful Matters

Chapter 12 Body for Life

Chapter 13 Heart Connection

Chapter 14 The Gift of Giving

Chapter 15 Career and Financial Aspirations

Chapter 16 Creative Catalyst

Chapter 17 Soul Purpose

Chapter 18 Reward Your Progress

Conclusion A Life Well Lived

Editorial Reviews

Literary Award Winner 1st place in the Self-Help category -2018/2019 by Readers Views

"15 Minute Pause is a thoughtful, insightful guide that compels you to living a more joy-filled life in simple, easy steps. In a world where our “to do” lists are growing exponentially and our lives are filled with 24/7 opportunities and challenges, the messages conveyed in this book are more important now than ever. ”

Judy Seidenstein, Chief Diversity Officer, Associate Dean of Diversity & Inclusion Duke University School of Medicine

Award-Winning Finalist in the Self-Help: Motivational category of the 2018 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest

Readers' Favorite Book Review

Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite - 5 stars

Michelle Burke and Lilamani de Silva’s motivational self-help book, 15 Minute Pause: A Radical Reboot for Busy People, offers readers unlimited potential and opportunities for growth and joy, and it all starts with only 15 minutes a day. I was most impressed with the ideas presented in this workbook, and enjoyed working through the chapter-end Reflection sections. Each aspect of their work is clearly presented, and their suggestions make it easy for anyone to feel engaged and involved with making their lives more joyful and fulfilling. The authors’ writing style is smooth and conversational, making it feel as though they are working directly with you, making 15 Minute Pause: A Radical Reboot for Busy People a highly recommended read.

“For many people, life has gotten so busy that they can’t afford to make time for a half-hour lunch break, let alone hours for meditation, exercise, rest, and leisure activities . . . Burke (The Compass and the Clock, 2002, etc.) and debut author de Silva offer a simple solution: a pause. They define this pause “as a sacred time-out for ourselves . . . These activities are quick and fit easily into a 15-minute pause, allowing readers to take a break from the stresses of work and family to analyze the decisions they made in the previous 30 days or to take the Life Energy Inventory. Burke and de Silva write in a clear, soothing prose that always sounds reasonable . . .

Reviewed by Kimberly Luyckx for Reader Views (Jan. 2019)

“15 Minute Pause - A Radical Reboot for Busy People” is more than a guide for creating time to restore, it is a playbook on how to live life more intently all day long...the authors are effective in explaining why the “pause” is important. One of my favorite quotes in the book is “joy-filled moments don’t add more to an already busy day, rather they make the busy day better"...We all need a reminder to do self-care. “15 Minute Pause” provides us with the reasons and resources to do so easily. Incorporating time for oneself is critical to life and feeds us with the stamina and exuberance to go to work each day, take care of others, and be involved in the community. Authors, Michelle Burke & Lilamani de Silva are experts in the field of business and how to get the most joy from life. Their backgrounds involve working with Fortune 500 companies and traveling the world to observe how other cultures get it right. In a nutshell, their dual knowledge is convincing and all-encompassing. This book is a keeper - one that I will definitely be using to evaluate my “me time” as the year progresses."

From the Publisher

2018-08-02

A motivational manual explains how readers can take back control of their lives 15 minutes at a time.

For many people, life has gotten so busy that they can't afford to make time for a half-hour lunch break, let alone hours for meditation, exercise, rest, and leisure activities. This time crunch goes a long way in accounting for the amount of stress the average person feels in contemporary society. Burke (The Compass and the Clock, 2002, etc.) and debut author de Silva offer a simple solution: a pause. They define this pause "as a sacred time-out for ourselves. 15 minutes helps us to be present, in the moment. When we are present we are more self-aware and can make better choices." The 15-minute pause, along with self-awareness and conscious choice, forms what the guide calls the "i-Matter Equation," which, as the name suggests, reminds readers that they matter and helps get them on track to have the sort of lives they desire. The authors devote a section of the book to each element of the equation, explaining the importance of introspection, decision-making, and purposeful action, providing plenty of useful exercises and questionnaires to steer readers into the correct mindset. These activities are quick and fit easily into a 15-minute pause, allowing readers to take a break from the stresses of work and family to analyze the decisions they made in the previous 30 days or to take the Life Energy Inventory. Burke and de Silva write in a clear, soothing prose that always sounds reasonable: "When we don't value ourselves enough to put us on our own to do list, or find time to prioritize our needs alongside our other demands, then stress levels invariably increase and wellbeing decreases." As is often the case in books like these, the authors lean heavily on jargon and branding (the Life Energy Inventory is trademarked, of course). There isn't much in the text that feels completely original. That said, all of the elements of the i-Matter Equation are worthy of pursuit and will likely help alleviate stress for those who incorporate them into their daily lives.

A well-executed, if somewhat derivative, motivational guide.

Kirkus Reviews