Book Excerpt
Read Below, or click here to download a PDF of an "It Just Makes Sense" Excerpt.
If you want to skip ahead to Chapter 5, which is all about harmony in relationships, click here.
Authors’ Notes: Why we wrote this book
Hello, I’m Kym Coco.
And I’m Stephen Thompson.
Stephen: We welcome you to our new book, It Just Makes Sense.
The concepts that form this book have been stirring around in my brain for over a decade. After a serious motorcycle accident in 1990 severed my career as a successful interior designer, the course of my life needed a new direction. I underwent 28 reconstructive surgeries, endless physical therapy,
and a whole paradigm shift in 6 years of recovery time.
I re-entered the working world as a new man. With strong values to support my direction, a clear, logical approach to re-form a business, and a passionate heart to heal the emotional body, I founded the Personal Search and Growth Center. My new focus became holistic healing for the mind, body and spirit. This might seem like a 180-degree shift from my career in interior design, but it actually returned me to my post-collegiate career in sociology. Yet, my first placement in crisis management at the age of 22 left me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. I felt unable to truly help people in need with the modalities I had learned in college.
Now with seasoned wisdom and time on my side, I have helped numerous clients increase self-esteem, boost prosperity, rebuild relationships, and enhance communication skills over the past 15 years. Despite societal chaos and a fast-paced lifestyle that challenges us all, I’ve been able to teach people how to take charge of their life and create a path to follow their dreams. In this book, we teach many of the techniques and concepts that I’ve developed throughout my time as a healer, teacher, and mentor.
Now, a blessed relationship with my wife, Kym Coco, has allowed my techniques to be put into written word. She has enriched this text with her unique perspectives and life experiences to fully make the sharing of this message possible.
Kym: For the past ten years, I’ve been working with college students in the realm of sports psychology. University life is a unique time where students are challenged with living on their own for the first time, creating a balanced schedule between work and play, and learning how to develop
practical skills that will serve them for the rest of their lifetime.
While Stephen teaches many of our Common Sense Tools to adult populations across the country in workshop format, I teach these basic life skills in the classroom. I see many of my students stressed out, burned out, and burned up because they lack the ability to manage their emotions. In
fact, many of them have never been taught anything about what it takes to keep their life energy high. They have not learned how to create their own well-being, develop meaningful relationships, or foster a career path that they’d enjoy.
Since my own stress-filled collegiate experience, I embarked on a personal journey into psychology, personal growth, and meditation. I am now happy to share my wisdom, sparked with a non-traditional flair, with the many students I encounter each year.
Stephen: We’ve noticed that people of all ages are bombarded daily with numerous distractions. There are 24-hour news outlets, ceaseless advertisements, and multiple avenues of entertainment. Cell phones keep us constantly connected to the internet and others. There is XM radio, electronic
book readers, and cable television that offers at least 200 channels—and that doesn’t even include the sports packages or movie channels. We are plugged in, logged on, or checked out at almost any given moment of the day.
While we receive many benefits from modern technology, there is a flipside to the opportunity coin they present. The forms of entertainment we seek, which are often deemed now as necessities, cause a distraction from our true selves. We are often too busy to take time for personal reflection, creativity, and enjoyment of ourselves as our own best friend.
It’s our goal for you to make confident decisions—ones where you can say, “It just makes sense”. This is what we call Common Sense Living. It’s where balance is established within you first. Then, that poise and wisdom can infiltrate all other areas of your life.
By reducing internal stress, we live longer and healthier. By knowing our game plan, we proceed with ease and effectiveness. And by finding inner contentment, we worry less.
Kym: We designed this book to be a hands-on guide to create your own common-sense approach within your work environment, relationships, and creative passions. Common Sense Living encourages you to take a slower pace amidst the rapidly-increasing speed of things around you. As a result, you can increase your effectiveness, your joy, and your peace of mind.
This book is for you, so use it in a way that fits your unique personality and lifestyle. You might want to start at the beginning and read it cover-to-cover. Or perhaps you’d like to find an area of your life where you feel stress and begin reading there first.
Whatever approach you choose, there are two Common Sense Symbols to guide you through the journey.
- Common Sense Tools indicate a concept or activity that can be used to enhance your learning.
- Common Sense Tips are main ideas set apart for easy understanding.
Steve: Now, trying to master every Common Sense Tool goes against the very principles we’re sharing. We recommend prioritizing the areas of your life that need the most support first. Then, focus on the related chapter and practice incorporating those Common Sense Tools into everyday life.
Once you feel comfortable with your newly-acquired techniques, you can move on.
Above all, we suggest having fun with this process. Enjoy how common sense can allow you to see things more clearly, feel things more authentically, and recognize your beneficial and unique contribution to the world around you.
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