The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love and Lead
Coming in 2014
Why do people fear success more than failure? Why do we allow self-imposed limitations to keep us playing small when we could be thriving in work and life?
A recent Gallup Poll showed that only 24% of the world’s adults and only 56% in the United States believe that they are thriving. In her forthcoming book, The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love and Lead, Dr. Donna Stoneham, a masterful executive coach and expert on transformational leadership explores the beliefs, fears and attitudes that keep us from thriving and realizing our highest potential. And she offers practical guidance for how to address and overcome the barriers that keep us trapped in surviving when we could be thriving.
Grounded in what noted psychologist Abraham Maslow called, “The Jonah Complex.” Maslow believed that most people are more afraid of success than failure, so we stay stuck in mediocrity due to our fears of change. In her book, Donna explores the reasons people focus on surviving when we could be thriving, and helps the reader develop seven keys that lead to thriving—trust, humility, resilience, inner direction, vision, expansiveness and responsibility.
The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love and Lead is a transformational primer for leaders, aspiring leaders and for anyone else seeking to move beyond self-imposed limitations and offer our best to work and life. Through personal stories, anecdotes from clients and students, practical exercises and reflection questions, Donna’s book helps readers to express their highest potential, live with purpose, thrive, and make a difference in the world.
In this interview, featured on American Airlines in-flight radio, Donna Stoneham discusses Integral Intelligence® and her forthcoming book, “The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love and Lead”.
Excerpts from the book The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love and Lead
In that instant, I knew in the sinew of my being what it means to thrive―that thriving is our capacity to receive and accept what is standing right in front of us in every moment we are given. It is our ability to grow, flourish and experience a sense of trust and well-being, while also appreciating how much we need one another to make the journey. It is our willingness to pay forward what we learn in ways that help alleviate our own and others’ suffering that helps us thrive. And living on the thriver’s edge is challenging, because it means developing the capacity to sustain that mindset, even in difficult times.”
Donna with Jack Canfield, best-selling author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” and “Success Principals: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.”
Embarking on this journey to thriving requires changing the questions we ask and shifting our focus from one of personal gain to contribution. We ask ourselves questions that generate greater possibilities for our lives, rather than those that limit us or constrain us from offering our greatest gifts. Rather than focusing on what we want to get from the world, we begin to reflect on what we might give.”
Assuming full and unequivocal responsibility for our lives and for how we respond to our conditions is a prerequisite to thriving. Taking accountability for our choices, actions, and reactions is a radical act because it’s counter-cultural. We live in a world where blaming others for our predicaments is common practice. Just watch the word-wars between politicians on cable news. Observe the culture of blame in the workplace when leaders pass the buck and don’t take responsibility for their actions. And if we’re honest enough to admit it, sometimes we play the blame game in our family dynamics, or even in our own responses to failure or disappointment. Taking complete responsibility for our perceptions and choices is challenging, but never underestimate its power. Being accountable for the life we want to create is the key that unlocks the door to unleashing our highest potential.”
As human beings, whether or not we are consciously aware of it, we are constantly making choices about how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. The choices we make determine whether our actions and responses are driven by a sense of victimization, by fears of survival, or by our commitment to thrive. Our perception of our place on this continuum can vary from day to day, depending on our mood, our capacity for resilience, the state of our physical health or the external challenges we’re facing. Learning how to effectively manage our self-perceptions versus allowing them to manage us is critical to self-mastery. Developing self-insight and the capacity to manage our state of mind enables us to choose healthy responses that lead to thriving.”