WHAT I'M READING WEDNESDAY: The Anatomy Of A Breakthrough By Adam Alter

First of all, who doesn't love listening to an audiobook with an Australian accent? Or is that just me? 🤣

I am not sure how this book hit my To Be Read shelf, but it did, and last week it popped up as being ready to check out at my not-so-local library.

Although, I don't see myself as being STUCK in any part of my life right now, looking back through the ideas I have heard so far, I can see exactly why I did get stuck, and some ideas for what to next time I feel that way.

Here are a few of the highlights so far (only a few chapters in):

• The plateau effect will affect us all, whether we are trying to advance our career or lose weight. The best thing to to is to do something different, rather than more of the same.
  

• Starting strong and finishing strong are human. The messy, mundane middle is part of life. If you want to finish faster, put a time limit on it.

• Focus on satisficing, rather than maximizing. Maximizing gets us trapped in perfection, when satisficing (a combo of satisfactory and sacrificing) is all you need.

• PAUSE. We tend to do more of the same and PUSH further, but when we're stuck sometimes we need to slow down and be more deliberate. Remember those chinese finger traps? Don't do that.

• Reframe a threats as challenges. This is one that I have heard of many times over, but it bears repeating. Threats bring about fear. Challenges (at least for me) bring about excitement. The look/feel the same in the body, so why not just put a different name to them?

I know that there are other golden nuggets to share, but they are not top of mind for me. It's one of the drawbacks of listening to books. Unless I take the time to write down the big ideas, they come in one ear and go out the other. (Yes, sometimes, I break my own motto and listen on 2x mode while driving the carpool or walking the dog.)

Do you ever feel stuck? What helps you get unstuck?

Originally posted on LinkedIn with comments.

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