For 13 years and on four U.S. Olympic track teams, Henry Marsh competed in international track and field, setting a still-unbroken American record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He finished fourth, however, in his run for glory in the 1976 Olympics. What he learned in his repeatedly thwarted bids for Olympic gold is that the highest degree of reward and satisfaction is to be found in the unswerving pursuit of personal excellence rather than in merely winning a competition. During his days as an athlete, Marsh developed a plan for aerobic training and stress reduction, later teaching this regimen in seminars, but soon perceived a need for a more comprehensive plan, one that revolved around a larger commitment to complete physical and emotional well-being. Marsh sets forth that comprehensive plan in The Breakthrough Factor. Using the Franklin Covey Reality Model, a self-analysis tool based on Franklin Covey's many years of research of human behavior, Marsh explains, with great energy and acuity, the power of principles in transforming lives from moment to moment. He tells how to ensure incredible results in all spheres of life (in relationships, financial circumstances, career decisions, and physical health) by making choices and arranging priorities around a fruitful set of values and beliefs.