About the Author
Jamie Mushin is a consultant in leadership and communication. He is passionate about the overlapping areas of emotional intelligence and communication, and how they sit at the heart of life’s interactions and relationships. He is committed to helping people improve the way they communicate, particularly in times of stress, in order to build better relationships, leading to positive outcomes in both their business and personal lives.
After graduating with a degree in economics, Jamie travelled and worked abroad, further exploring an interest in meditation, Mindfulness and Eastern philosophies and practices. His interest in human behaviour led him to undertake post-graduate studies in counselling (sports and performance psychology), and eventually into his work as a personal development consultant. He is internationally accredited in emotional intelligence.
Jamie quit smoking cigarettes in 1995, after almost 10 years as a smoker. It came on the back of an early mid-life crisis - six months of self doubt, questioning and searching for answers. One of the outcomes of this self examination was an awareness about why he smoked.
Jamie finally understood that the reason behind his smoking had nothing to do with nicotine addiction, habit, stress or even liking it - even though he was addicted, did have a habit and did like smoking. There was a deeper underlying cause, and once he understood this, he knew that stopping smoking didn’t need to be the difficult process that so many found it to be.
Armed with this new self-knowledge, Jamie was able to quit then and there. He knew why he was smoking, and he knew that when a craving or uncomfortable feeling did arise, he had a tool which he had previously learned to deal with that sensation in a healthy way - Mindfulness. He found the process to be simple and stress-free, and has not smoked since then. Importantly, there has been no ongoing stress about being a non-smoker, or wanting to smoke.
Not long after Jamie quit, friends began to ask him how he was able to do so successfully, and so easily. This encouraged him to put together a program to work with smokers who were genuinely ready to quit. Six months later, he ran his first stop smoking program for a friend. Jamie has run the program on an informal basis ever since. In doing so, he has not only helped many smokers quit, but also deepened his understanding of why people smoke. He always knew that one day he would write a book to help people stop smoking.
Jamie lives in Melbourne, Australia.