Get Off the X
AVAILABLE 1.14.2025
Former CIA intelligence officer and popular author Michele Rigby Assad knows better than anyone what it means to venture into uncharted territory. Now, in her second book, she’s using her experience to help you embrace the often uncomfortable path to success. Get Off the X emboldens you to escape your comfort zone and realize your full potential!
In her first book, Breaking Cover, Michele introduced the concept “get off the x.” In CIA terms, this is how officers are trained to survive deadly situations: get out of the kill zone as fast as possible. While working in counterterrorism in the Middle East, every day brought a life-or-death situation for Michele. She faced countless obstacles and dangers and had to forge ahead despite fear and uncertainty—or risk death, literally.
After learning to “get off the x” and use determination and discomfort to fuel a thriving life, Michele calls upon you to do the same. With stories of her time in the CIA and the lives of those whom she encountered, as well as everyday people who found ways to get unstuck in their own lives, she encourages you to stop feeling stuck and take charge of your situation, much like an agent in the field would.
Get Off the X guides you to:
- Diagnose what’s holding you hostage in your ‘X’
- Learn from real-world examples how to escape your ‘X’
- Nurture a new mindset that thrives in the unknown
- Discover methods to help you overcome barriers
- And help others scared to leave their comfort zone
While it’s hard to leave the comfort zone, it’s even more dangerous to stay there. Every day we make the choice: Will we embrace challenge and hardship for a chance at something greater, or will we stay on the X and face the certain death of our dreams? With Get Off the X, Michele Rigby Assad equips you to make your escape.
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Former CIA intelligence officer and popular author Michele Rigby Assad knows better than anyone what it means to venture into uncharted territory. Now, in her second book, she’s using her experience to help you embrace the often uncomfortable path to success. Get Off the X emboldens you to escape your comfort zone and realize your full potential!
In her first book, Breaking Cover, Michele introduced the concept “get off the x.” In CIA terms, this is how officers are trained to survive deadly situations: get out of the kill zone as fast as possible. While working in counterterrorism in the Middle East, every day brought a life-or-death situation for Michele. She faced countless obstacles and dangers and had to forge ahead despite fear and uncertainty—or risk death, literally.
After learning to “get off the x” and use determination and discomfort to fuel a thriving life, Michele calls upon you to do the same. With stories of her time in the CIA and the lives of those whom she encountered, as well as everyday people who found ways to get unstuck in their own lives, she encourages you to stop feeling stuck and take charge of your situation, much like an agent in the field would.
Get Off the X guides you to:
- Diagnose what’s holding you hostage in your ‘X’
- Learn from real-world examples how to escape your ‘X’
- Nurture a new mindset that thrives in the unknown
- Discover methods to help you overcome barriers
- And help others scared to leave their comfort zone
While it’s hard to leave the comfort zone, it’s even more dangerous to stay there. Every day we make the choice: Will we embrace challenge and hardship for a chance at something greater, or will we stay on the X and face the certain death of our dreams? With Get Off the X, Michele Rigby Assad equips you to make your escape.
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.
6″ x 9″ Jacketed Hardcover, 272 pages
Print ISBN: 978-1-947297-99-9, $26.95
eBook ISBN: 978-1-962435-00-0, $9.99
Publisher: Dexterity
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