I met Rachael O’Meara at the World Domination Summit in Portland, OR, a few years ago. She hosted a break-out meetup session around the topic of her current book, entitled Pause, in which she explains how pausing can boost your emotional intelligence and ability to act, feel, and communicate authentically and responsibly through the process of creating space in your life for rest and reflection. The sub-title of the book is, “Harnessing the power of giving yourself a break”, which well describes the book and her leading of the meet-up.

Not only was, and is, the topic a relevant one for my life, I’m finding out that nearly, if not every, person I know needs a better understanding of how to take breaks, both large and small, in order to bring a fresh perspective and balance to their lives.

In addition to being an author, Rachael is a sales executive at Google San Francisco for the DoubleClick Ad Exchange and trains colleagues on emotional intelligence and how to be more aware to enhance performance in all areas of life. She is also a regular contributor to Huffington Post, has a podcast on the practice of pausing, and speaks and leads workshops on the topic as well.

It has taken me a couple of months to read Pause because I wanted to take my time and apply the principles as I was absorbing them. It’s been thoughtful and challenging, but a fruitful process to apply to my life.