This is the first post in a three-part series.  I signed up for Devorah Sisso Stieglitz’s Breakthrough class.  Although I got to take the class for free, all opinions are my own.

The Class – What’s it about?

While I was on vacation I got an email from Devorah Sisso asking if I’d like to take her Breakthrough class for free in return for a written review here on my blog.  (all opinions are my own)

Breakthrough is a 6-part “mind training” series which literally gives you tools to identify what’s keeping you stuck in life, “break through” them, move on to the next stage, and attract more blessings into your life.

The premise of the class is that your thoughts impact what happens in your life. Thoughts become a part of you and have the power to either make things happen or prevent things from happening in your life.

Although the course description was everything I wanted (who doesn’t want to reduce stress and anxiety in their lives??), I was so hesitant.  I work full time.  I just wrote about how I felt like I had no time in my life for anything extra.  How on earth could I commit to a 6-week long class??  (stay tuned for part #3 to see how I made time for this)

But, I felt like this email did not arrive out of the blue.  I was sent this opportunity for a reason and I’d be silly not to make the time for it.  I had been struggling with certain aspects of my life for a while now.  Could this be the answer I was looking for?

Who is Devorah?

So, before I signed up, I decided to find out who Devorah was.  Would I be able to listen to her through a 6-hour class? Luckily she had an easy to find YouTube channel.  I began watching and was hooked.  What really sealed the deal was the hour long video of her life story.  She is someone who was tested on her emunah and did not give up when things were tough.  I truly admire that, am amazed by her journey and am grateful that she shared something so personal.  It made me feel like I was not alone and this person would truly understand the struggles I was going through.

And so, I signed up for the class.  I agreed to take it on 2 conditions. 1. That I can write whatever I wanted in my review – it had to be completely honest.  And 2. That I can do the class at my own pace.  I still was skeptical that I’d be able to commit. But I knew I really wanted this for myself so I’d make time for it.

And here I am now.  I just finished taking the class.

My Journey

It had been many years since I was in school or went to a shiur and the messages in the class were exactly what I needed to hear at this time in my life.

My original intent was to blog through each class, but when I got to the homework after the first class I realized that this was going to be an incredibly personal journey.  Too personal to share everything.  I had written down some of the most negative, hurtful thoughts I had… I didn’t really want to share them with anyone.

So, although I won’t share everything, I do want to share part of my journey with you.

As part of the first piece of homework I had, I had to write down my “poisins” – negative thoughts I have that I need to snap out of.  One of the “poisons” I wanted to detox from was:  I have no time to do the things I want

I had been feeling like I didn’t have enough time for anything- especially my family, so this was something that I truly wanted to change.

Once my “poisins” were on paper I had to “detox”.  The next homework was to write positive affirmations, so I turned my “poison” into a positive affirmation, which I repeated nightly:  I can make time for the things I want to do

I was determined to make a life for myself with better work-life balance.  I blog about it all the time but at that time was not very good at it.  I just wasn’t entirely sure how I could go about making that change.

Stay tuned for Breakthrough Part #2: How I Changed My Life.  To read the entire series, click here.

Until next time,
Shaindy