Breaking Through to Your Next Level

Recently, a reader left a thoughtful comment on one of my recent posts. He said:

“You really give a lot to think about… and face what I will call new realities.”

That comment made me smile.

Because what he’s describing is something I’ve seen for decades.

Since 1997, I’ve coached people in Life Transformation Through Goal Achievement. (https://www.snapyourselfintoanewreality.com/)

And the people who experience real breakthrough almost always have something in common.

They come to me with what I call disruptive discontent.

Not casual dissatisfaction.

Not mild frustration.

But a deep internal realization that the way things are is no longer acceptable. They have also somehow come to realize that their life is passing by fast and that their time is limited. In other words, they have suddenly realized “there is urgency.”

That is the moment where transformation begins.

The Seed of a New Reality

Most people often believe transformation happens in an instant.

They imagine a breakthrough moment where everything suddenly changes.

But that’s not how transformation actually works.

Transformation works more like a seed planted in the soil.

At first, nothing appears to be happening.

The seed is underground.

Invisible.

But beneath the surface, something important is taking place.

Roots are forming.

A foundation is being built.

Strength is developing.

And at the appointed time the plant breaks through the surface and reaches the light of day.

From the outside, it looks sudden, one day nothing, the next day a plant 🌱 is visible.

But the real work happened long before anyone could see it.

The same is true for every meaningful breakthrough transformation in life…

A Moment of Disruptive Discontent in My Own Life

My own journey started with curiosity.

As a poor inner city child I became fascinated with the world and how things worked. I began reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica from A through Z. It opened my eyes to a fascinating world much grander than my day to day reality at the time.

That curiosity lead me to discover the computer industry and set a goal to go to college and learn the skills necessary to work for IBM. This gave purpose and meaning to my schoolwork and permanently altered the trajectory of my life!

In the fall of 1976, as an 18 year old college freshman, I was studying software engineering, when one of my professors began talking about a strange problem we were creating in computer software systems.

At the time, programmers were storing date fields using two digits for the year instead of four. So December 31, 1999 would be represented as 12/31/99, instead of 12/31/1999.

It seemed like a small decision. But dates are critical data elements in every computer software application.

But the professor explained that when the year 2000 arrived, every computer system around the world would likely fail unless they were modified because they would interpret the year “00” incorrectly.

Today, we know this problem as Y2K.

But at that moment something interesting happened in my mind.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that problem would create a huge window of opportunity! I did the math.

The year 2000 was a short twenty-four years away.

And I realized something else.

I would be 42 years old that year. At the time that was longer than my whole lifetime!

It was then that I realized time was on my side! If I owned my own consulting company by then there would likely be enormous demand for people who understood how to fix that problem.

So I wrote a goal… “Start my own consulting company by the age of 40. December 31, 1998.

That goal was the seed.

A commitment.

A decision.

A future that did not yet exist but that I would manifest.

And once that seed was planted, it began shaping the way I thought, the opportunities I pursued, and the direction of my life.

On February 14, 1994, four years before the appointed date, that seed broke through the soil and emerged as my consulting company - InER-G Solutions, Limited. 🫡

Disruptive Discontent

Every major life transformation begins the same way — with what I call disruptive discontent. The moment when you are no longer simply dissatisfied with the way things are… you are compelled to change them. The moment when dissatisfaction becomes vision.

Every transformation begins this way, period.

This is the moment when the future you imagine becomes stronger than the comfort of your present, and you DECIDE to do something about it.

At that moment, a seed is planted.

And if you nurture that seed with action, discipline, and belief… in due season, by the appointed date (deadline date set by you) it will break through the surface of the soil of your life.

When that happens many people around you will be amazed at your overnight success. But you will know the truth… it began years earlier with one simple realization:

Things the way they are today are no longer enough. I want more.

(I realized that as a poor inner city kid reading through the Encyclopedia Britanica in the late 1960s)

And I achieved it…

Invest 5 Minutes to Snap Yourself Into a New Reality!

Take five minutes right now and do this simple exercise.

1. Reflect

Ask yourself this question honestly:

Where in my life do I feel disruptive discontent or see real opportunity?

Is it your career?

Your health?

Your finances?

Your relationships?

Write down the first answer that comes to mind.

2. Write

Now complete this sentence:

“If I acted on this discontent, I would set the goal to ______.”

Don’t worry about how big or distant the goal seems.

Just write it.

Every transformation begins with a single clear intention.

3. Act

Take one small action today that supports that goal.

Research something.

Write a plan.

Schedule time to work on it.

Plant the seed.

Because every amazing future begins exactly the same way: With a moment when your discontent becomes disruptive enough to demand change. That’s when you will plant the seeds of your future breakthrough transformation.

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Namaste 🙏🏾

Mark Johnson

March, 2026