Anatomy of a Breakthrough

How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most

By: Adam Alter

Narrated by: Adam Alter

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A groundbreaking guide to breaking free from the thoughts, habits, jobs, relationships, and even business models that prevent us from achieving our full potential.

Almost everyone feels stuck in some way. Whether you’re muddling through a midlife crisis, wrestling writer’s block, trapped in a thankless job, or trying to remedy a fraying friendship, the resulting emotion is usually a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, anger, and numbness. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Anatomy of a Breakthrough is the roadmap we all need to escape our inertia and flourish in the face of friction.

Adam Alter has spent the past two decades studying how people become stuck and how they free themselves to thrive. Here he reveals the formula he and other researchers have uncovered. The solution rests on a process that he calls a friction audit—a systematic procedure that uncovers why a person or organization is stuck, and then suggests a path to progress. The friction audit states that people and organizations get unstuck when they overcome three sources of friction: HEART (unhelpful emotions); HEAD (unhelpful patterns of thought); and HABIT (unhelpful behaviors).

Despite the ubiquity of friction, there are many great “unstickers” hidden in plain sight among us and Alter shines a light on some exceptional stories to share their valuable lessons with us. He tells us about the sub-elite swimmer who unstuck himself twice to win two Olympic gold medals, the actor who faced countless rejections before gaining worldwide fame, the renowned painter who became paralyzed and had to relearn to paint with a brush strapped to his wrist, and Alter’s own story of getting unstuck from a college degree that made him deeply unhappy.

Artfully weaving together scientific studies, anecdotes, and interviews, Alter teaches us that getting stuck is a feature rather than a glitch on the road to thriving, but with the right tweaks and corrections we can reach even our loftiest targets.

©2023 Adam Alter. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Actionable Ideas

Great collection of actions one can take to accelerate growth and accomplishments. Think short high intensity workouts! Nobody likes them but they work!

Love every chapter

I don’t normally read or listen to Audio books because I tend to get distracted or fall asleep. This one was different, it was so relatable with a lot of stories/examples that were given. Every chapter I felt engaged as if the author was talking to me.

A life changing read (in spanish)

Recién terminé: "Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most" de Adam Alter, una guía para sobreponerte cuando te sientes estancado, todo parece ir en círculos y estás considerando renunciar.

La solución propuesta por el autor se basa en un proceso que él llama: auditoría de fricción, un procedimiento sistemático para entender por qué una persona u organización está estancada y cómo avanzar superando tres fuentes de fricción: las emociones inútiles, los patrones de pensamiento inútiles y los comportamientos inútiles.

El autor entrelaza ingeniosamente estudios científicos, anécdotas y entrevistas para explicar que las adversidades son parte de la vida y sentirse atascado es una característica más que un problema en el camino hacia el éxito. Afortunadamente, podemos superar el estancamiento y alcanzar nuestros objetivos más elevados implementando los ajustes y correcciones adecuados.

Esta es una lectura que cambia vidas y que recomiendo ampliamente y sin reservas.

Alter, A. (2023). Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most. New York, NY, USA: Simon & Schuster.

Brilliantly Specific and Concise

Simply: The specific steps you need to take to get unstuck and the concise supporting data to back it up. A field guide we all need on our desk to turn to when we feel the bog slowing us down.

Good review of how humans can wind in up stuck

Good summary of the different reasons why we stuck. He has a short list at the end that will be useful to keep handy for a checklist if you wind up in that situation

great, Practical read

Enjoyed it and I recommended to a few people. Thank you for this book.

Very helpful..for anyone.

Excellent breakdown of useful steps to get out of a rut. Heard of the author on Hidden Brain on NPR.

Great read!

Adam Alter provides great insight and tips to getting unstuck. He incorporates stories for context. Will definitely read again.

Intriguing, excellent storytelling back by science

as someone periodically stuck or stumbled at high stake moments, I found this book to be encouraging and practical. Excellent examples followed with research that supported the main claims.

The narrators did a good job, tho they switching for the last two chapters appeared odd at the beginning but I get used to the 'new voice's after half chapter.

A very insightful book

It gave me excellent ideas about how to get out of a rut,very helpful