by Adam Alter
First published 2023
Almost everyone gets trapped somewhere in life. You might struggle through a midlife crisis, battle writer's block, feel stuck in a dead-end job, or watch a friendship fall apart. The feelings hit hard: anxiety, uncertainty, fear, anger, numbness. Adam Alter spent twenty years studying how people break free from what holds them back. He discovered that people and organizations escape their traps by tackling three friction sources. HEART covers unhelpful emotions. HEAD deals with unhelpful thought patterns. HABIT targets unhelpful behaviors. Alter calls this systematic approach a friction audit. He shares stories of exceptional people who got unstuck. A swimmer who seemed average won two Olympic gold medals. An actor faced endless rejections before achieving worldwide fame. A celebrated painter became paralyzed and learned to paint with a brush strapped to his wrist. Alter also tells his own story of escaping a college degree that made him miserable. The book teaches that getting stuck happens to everyone on the path to success, but the right adjustments help you reach your biggest goals.
Genres: psychology, self-help, non-fiction, personal-development
Vibes: inspirational, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-adversity, self-improvement
316 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon & Schuster