CIA Secrets for Conquering Obstacles and Achieving Your Life’s Mission
BY MICHELLE RIGBY ASSAD
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Product Details
- Publisher: Dexterity (January 14, 2025)
- Length: 240 pages
- Jacketed Hardcover ISBN: 9781947297999
- eBook ISBN:
- Audiobook ISBN:
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- Nonfiction > Self-Help
About the Author
MICHELE RIGBY ASSAD is an international corporate advisor and keynote speaker. She parlayed a ten-year career as a CIA operative in the Middle East to consulting for multinational companies facing complex geopolitical challenges. Her extensive experience in the Arab World drives her ability to interpret and navigate risk to design safe and effective operations.
Michele has played a pivotal role in high-stakes missions both as a counterterrorism official and as a human rights defender in the civilian world, culminating in the 2015 airlift operation and relocation of 149 persecuted Iraqi Christians. Michele also provides security advice to nonprofit organizations working against human trafficking and in support of women rebuilding their lives.
Hailing from a small town in Central Florida, Michele determined that her simple beginnings would not define her future. She quickly learned how to push through fear and other obstacles to defy her own expectations and live a life of meaning and purpose. Her early pushes off the X to serve on college mission teams and study abroad in Egypt, Israel, Russia and Ukraine, resulted in a lifetime of travel to over 52 countries.
Michele holds a master’s degree in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a political science degree from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Get Off the X is her second book. She is also the author of Breaking Cover, her memoir. Michele lives in Florida with her husband Joseph.
Book Club Discussion Guide
Download the Get Off the X discussion guide here.
Reviews and Endorsements
“The ideas in this book challenge popular narratives that if the path is hard, it hurts, or is unclear, it’s not worth it. But I have seen in my own life, in Michele’s life, and others around me, that success has more to do with perseverance than anything else. It doesn’t matter if you are a singer, a CEO, or someone who has yet to find their way in the world. You can find purpose and meaning if you are willing to go where others won’t go and challenge yourself to live with uncertainty until the right door opens. Waiting for that breakthrough and surviving the “in-betweens” is a crucial part of that process. Michele provides not only the inspiration to move through anxiety and fear, but the tools necessary to fight whatever is holding you back. It’s time to stop waiting and wondering and time to Get Off the X and work for your dreams!”
—Howie Dorough, Singer in Backstreet Boys and Real Estate Developer
“As a former CIA intelligence officer, I can personally attest to the critical importance of getting off of the X to accomplish our operational mission. Michele has masterfully parlayed this concept into her book, Get Off the X: CIA Secrets for Conquering Obstacles and Achieving Your Life’s Mission, which is a must-read for everyone, no matter where they are on their life’s journey. What most resonated with me was the emphasis on patience when we find ourselves overly anxious and yearning for clarity in the road ahead. I only wish I had the wisdom gleaned from this book much earlier in my personal and professional life. Let this book serve readers as an invaluable guide for navigating the uncertainties of life’s journey with faith and resilience.”
—Peter Warmka, Founder Counterintelligence Institute and author of Confessions of a CIA Spy
“Get Off the X is the perfect book to change the way you think about obstacles in your life. Michele’s personal stories and advice for achieving your goals will make you motivated, happier, and more productive. I can’t recommend this book enough.”
—Eric DeCosta, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Baltimore Ravens