Your mind runs programs. Some of them are out of date.
A 10-minute guided reset for the thought that keeps stopping you. You catch it, check whether it's true, choose a better one, and act on it within 60 seconds.
"I'm not ready to share this with people I know."
Something you were told, or decided along the way. Which means it can change.
A subroutine running in the master program
Picture your mind as a master program: your goals, values and sense of who you are. Running underneath it are hundreds of small subroutines. Most are useful. A few were written years ago, for a situation you're no longer in, and they still fire on cue: "I'm not ready." "Who am I to do this?" "Not until it's perfect."
When one of these runs, it feels like the truth about you. It's really a piece of old code. And code can be read, tested and rewritten.
This is a metaphor, not a literal model of the brain. It gives analytical minds a way to look at a thought instead of from it, and that small step back is where change starts.
| In a computer | In you |
|---|---|
| Master program | Who you are: your goals, values and sense of self |
| Subroutine | An automatic thought that runs on cue, like "I'm not ready" |
| Legacy code | Rules picked up from family, school or a hard experience, never re-checked |
| System alert | The stress response: tight chest, shallow breath, racing thoughts |
| Debugging | Noticing the thought and testing whether it's true |
| Patch | A new thought you can actually believe |
| Deploy | One small action that puts the new thought to work |
Five steps called iLEAP, about ten minutes
The method is called iLEAP, and the butterfly in the logo is the "i": the moment of transformation. Each step borrows from approaches with solid research behind them. The order matters: calm the body first, so the thinking part of your brain can do its job.
Intercept: settle your body
Thirty seconds of "cyclic sighing": two breaths in through the nose, then one long, slow breath out through the mouth.
A long out-breath slows the heart and signals safety to the nervous system. In a Stanford study, people who practised cyclic sighing for five minutes a day reported a bigger lift in mood than a group doing mindfulness meditation.
Balban et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2023Label: name the thought
Write the thought exactly as it sounds in your head. Rate how strong the feeling is, and how true the thought feels, from 0 to 10.
Seeing a thought written down turns it into something you're looking at, rather than something you are. Psychologists call this cognitive defusion, a core skill in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Your ratings give you a starting point to compare against later.
Examine: is it a fact, or a story?
Is this as fixed as gravity, or something you learned along the way? If it's a story, imagine it's gone, and notice what you'd do next.
Testing a thought against the evidence is a central technique of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Most limiting beliefs turn out to be learned rules, and learned rules can be updated.
Many of these rules are learned growing up, and each one once did a job, like keeping us safe or keeping the peace (family systems theory, Bowen). Noticing the job a rule did isn't about blaming anyone. It hands the choice back to you: keep the rule, or update it.
Align: choose a new thought you can believe
With your right hand on the centre of your chest, breathe all the way out, then take one slow breath into your belly. Write a new thought, and rate how much you believe it. You need 6 out of 10 or more to continue.
Big affirmations can backfire. When people with low self-esteem repeated "I'm a lovable person", they felt worse, because the gap felt too wide. A smaller, believable step lands better, so the believability check is built in.
Wood, Perunovic & Lee, Psychological Science, 2009Proceed: take one small step, now
Pick something you can do in 60 seconds, start the timer and do it. Then set a plan for next time: "When this thought shows up, I will…"
Action is what makes a new belief stick. And "when–then" plans have strong evidence behind them: a review of 94 studies found they had a medium-to-large effect on people reaching their goals.
Gollwitzer & Sheeran, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2006Same method. Two ways of talking to your brain.
Both versions run the exact same steps, in the same order. Only the language changes. Here's the same moment in each:
Systems console
The Guide
Which suits you? A few quick questions.
The Leap Upgrade is for individuals. Tell us who it's for, then we'll match you with the version that fits how you think. It opens right here in your browser. The iPhone and Android app is coming soon.
iLEAP for organisations runs through Westawi
The Leap Upgrade is built for individuals. For leaders, sales teams and organisations, the iLEAP method is delivered through Westawi, in business language, with facilitated sessions.
Answer all three to see your match.
Already know? Go straight to the Systems Console or the Guide.
Some programs run too deep to debug alone
The app handles a single stuck thought. In a facilitated session, we go further: we trace the sabotage program underneath it, find the master limiting belief that keeps it running, and resolve it.
A session runs anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. It ends when the program is resolved, not when a clock runs out.
This is not counselling or therapy. It's practical, instructional facilitation: you bring one real block, and we work it through together using the iLEAP method.
- IsolateName the one loop that's costing you the most right now.
- TraceWork through the console together while I flag inherited rules and hidden programs.
- ShiftNotice the moment your body lets go, and settle into it.
- LockCommit to one action you'll take straight away.
Booking terms
- Using your sessions. Sessions must be used within 12 months of purchase. Any sessions not used within 12 months expire.
- Moving a session. Please give at least 12 hours' notice if you need to move a session. If you move a session with less than 12 hours' notice, you lose one of your 30-day Pro gift passes.
- Transfers. If you can't use your sessions, you can transfer any unused sessions to someone else within the 12 months. Just email partners@westawi.com.au with their name and email address.
- Refunds. We don't offer refunds if you change your mind.
- Workshop tickets. VIP tickets included with the 6- and 12-session packages are for a full-weekend, in-person workshop on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Live workshops run on a regular schedule, and the first will be held no later than 22 to 24 October 2027, with its venue confirmed by April 2027. Each ticket can be used at any workshop within 18 months of purchase. If an in-person workshop is cancelled, ticket holders will join an online workshop by Zoom instead, run over two weekends.
- The Leap Upgrade Pro. Pro access included with your package begins when the Pro version of the app launches, or on your purchase date if it has already launched. Single sessions: 30 days for each session bought (you can buy up to 5 single sessions at once). 6 sessions: 6 months. 12 sessions: 12 months.
- Gift passes. For every session you buy, you can nominate one person to receive 30 days of Pro, instead of the usual 7-day trial. Each person can receive one 30-day pass only.
Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Book a session
All sessions are online. Email to book and tell me briefly what's keeping you stuck. Once your session is booked, I'll send you a video link.
Sessions are currently conducted in English.
Sally Badawi, creator of the iLEAP method
Sally created iLEAP, the five-step method behind The Leap Upgrade. It began as a series of workshops she ran in schools, built around five themes: intentional identity, language, environment and energy, aligned action, and purposeful progress.
She brings together two worlds. With a degree in information technology, she thinks in systems, which is where the idea of beliefs as subroutines comes from. As a certified NLP Master Practitioner and Coach with more than 25 years in sales, she knows how a single thought can stop a capable person in their tracks.
- Creator of iLEAP
- Certified NLP Master Practitioner and Coach
- Bachelor of IT, UTS
- 25+ years in sales
What this is, and what it isn't
A tool for everyday stuck points
It's built for procrastination, decision loops, self-doubt and overthinking. It's a self-coaching exercise, not therapy, and it isn't designed for trauma, grief or mental health conditions. For those, please work with a qualified professional.
Go gently with the breathing
If you feel dizzy or light-headed during the breathing steps, stop and breathe normally. Skip them if you have a respiratory or heart condition and haven't checked with your doctor.
If you're struggling right now
If a thought is about harming yourself, or you feel unsafe, please reach out now to a crisis line in your country, or call your local emergency number.
- Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 · emergency 000
- New Zealand: 1737 · emergency 111
- UK and Ireland: Samaritans 116 123 · emergency 999 (UK), 112 (Ireland)
- US and Canada: 988 · emergency 911
- Europe: emergency 112
- Anywhere else: find a confidential crisis line near you at findahelpline.com
- Balban, M. Y. et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1). Read the study
- Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E. & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements: power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science, 20(7). Read the abstract
- Gollwitzer, P. M. & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38.
- Kerr, M. E. & Bowen, M. (1988). Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory. W. W. Norton.