Master of Change

The beloved performance expert, journalist, and author of The Practice of Groundedness and co-author of Peak Performance teaches you how to develop a flexible mindset–to embrace and even leverage life’s constant flux to improve all aspects of your life. We are constantly experiencing change. From social disruptions like economic recessions, new technologies, and pandemics, to individual disruptions like starting a new job, moving, getting married, becoming a parent, or dealing with illness, we undergo transformation–both good and bad–regularly. Research shows that, on average, people experience thirty-six disorder events over the course of their adult lives–about one every eighteen months. Yet we instinctively fight change, viewing it as a negative disruption and a threat to our sense of self. Performance expert Brad Stulberg argues that this homeostasis view of life isn’t realistic. In Master of Change, he flips the script, shattering the notion that we should strive for stability. Change is a constant. We need to recognize this and see it for what it is: an opportunity for growth. We shouldn’t fear change, we should embrace it, leverage it, and understand how it is connected to our sense of self. Stulberg introduces a new model that views change as an ongoing cycle of order, disorder, and reorder. We eventually return to stability, but that stability is somewhere new–and temporary. He calls this model of successfully navigating, growing, and maintaining a strong sense of self in our everchanging world rugged flexibility: a mindset that is both durable and able to adapt and bend easily without breaking. When we learn to thrive with change–to go with the flow–we will be calmer, achieve sustained performance at work and beyond, and be happier and more fulfilled in all aspects of life. Stulberg offers 6 principles for developing a change-adaptive mindset, rooted in Buddhist and Taoist philosophies of impermanence, and supported by new science from neuroscience, psychology, and mindfulness: Open up to the flow of life Build a strong and adaptable identity Expect it to be hard Become diverse and robust Respond not react Make meaning on the other side Throughout, he offers mindset shifts and everyday practices for acclimating to life’s inevitably changing circumstances that allow us to move forward, such as learning to define yourself by your values instead of your work or relationships, and replacing toxic positivity with realistic expectations. At once a performance manual and a wisdom guide, Master of Change helps you manage change and make it work for you–while becoming more fulfilled along the way.