Blue Flower

Breakthroughs That Matter

David H. Collins

Blue Flower

Inherently breakthroughs require something to break and something to start anew. 1) Entelechy – the seed breaking and the new plant starting; 2) Coming Out – the breaking of trying to live a lie and starting as a new whole person trying to be authentic; 3) Writer’s Block – Being stuck on trying to make every single thing make sense in the story and one’s life before feeling capable of writing something worthy and then being freed to see anew that the testimony of one’s own life and untold stories of changes enabled through convergent and XYZ insights is good enough and a real beginning to see something written begins.

Breakthrough areas of highest value

(in no particular order)

  • Getting a sense of your purpose and mission in life

  • Finding and being in Love

  • Being the change you wish to see in the world

  • Letting go of a life albatross

  • Forgiving something huge

  • Finding a new home

  • Accepting and loving one’s whole self

  • Discovering a real key - in a sport, art, science, music,

  • Creating a new vision and enabling it in the world

  • Finally understanding a cause of some deep pain and how to move on

  • Coming of maturity/excellence in some realm of discipline – 1st deal; 1st win, etc.

  • Learning how to make a difference in the lives of others – change of ego life

  • Seeing God or coming to a religious belief

  • Death into Eternal Life

  • A birth of a child

  • Making a commitment to something of magnitude and following through


The breakthrough experience

The breakthrough experience – the “knowing” of the moment, the Z, seems an enlightenment sense where mental, physical, feeling/emotion and personal spirit all combine to “know” the change, see it and understand to some degree its significance. It also has an element of being able to be seen and acknowledged by others surrounding it or coming to know it. A man who gets on his knee to propose on the New Hope Bridge; a new puppy for an old man who people know was in great pain over a loss; a new job for a woman long unemployed and depressed; Jordan Speith’s first win on the PGA Golf tour.

Sources & means of breakthroughs

  • Something read and understood

  • A revelation learned, seen, and/or witnessed

  • Experiencing a profound change or shift

Breakthroughs are such that elements of X, Y, and Z seem present simultaneously and it can be hard to distinguish them “doing; understanding; feeling; experiencing; hearing; seeing.” Conversely, breakdowns are failings and fractures and can enter in seemingly at more elemental and separate levels –

  • Communication breakdowns between friends/work colleagues (y)

  • Breakdown/break-ups if relations and feelings for and with someone (y)

  • Breakdown of the harmony, rhythm, tone for a choir group performing (xz)

  • Breakdown of an operational or technical system for a company (x)

  • Breakdown of momentum for a political campaign (xz)

  • Breakdown of team dynamics due to personality or opinion conflicts (y)

  • Breakdown of growth due to lack of stewardship or nourishment (x y)

  • Mental breakdown from stress or fatigue (all)


When the breakdowns are compounded by magnitude, then they seem anti-convergent or some form of horrifying that has simultaneous XYZ implications:

  • A start of a war

  • Natural disaster

  • Being dumped in a relationship; divorce

  • Getting fired

  • A death of a loved one

  • An accident causing a disability

  • Making a big mistake – like infidelity, etc.

  • A nervous breakdown

  • Being charged and/or convicted of a Crime - Misdemeanors or Life changing felonies.

  • Being Sued

The breakdown experience

The experiences of the breakdowns can have more profound reactions or require more direct X,Y, or Z responses depending on their nature – a moment of death triggers immense grief and requires crying and spiritual healing; a relational breakdown needs to comfort of friends and loved ones so that the pain isn’t as profound and awful; a war or natural disaster requires immediate action in the physical world and time to react for survival, safety, and protection.

Strange are the working of mistakes and “failures” though because seen in a different light they are often the sources of breakthrough opportunities. The autistic child who produces a new love and change in parents and appreciation of life; an experiment gone wrong that shows in fact the missing element to producing a light bulb; The divorce that lead to finding a real love/life partner; getting fired and finding a new far more fulfilling career.

The inflection point

Human intelligence knowledge jumps into the midst of inflection points – those spaces between, be they transitions, pauses, unknown places, being lost – and provides the perspective, insights, and catalytic knowledge and inspiration to have breakthroughs. Seeing it, understanding it, and getting the implications on each of the X,Y, and Z levels and ultimately in convergence leads to aha’s, optimization, and the breakthroughs that matter. Sharing the context for these in both framework and stories seems the real point of the XYZ Time book.