Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing - Including You
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11 Things Master of Change Will Teach You
Adopt a new, more accurate, and productive mindset for change called rugged flexibility.
Navigate cycles of order → disorder → reorder.
Apply non-dual thinking to work through challenges.
Chart uncertainty with increased confidence.
Be in conversation with change instead of it happening to you.
Set appropriate expectations and adjust them when necessary.
Cultivate a rugged yet flexible sense of self.
Discern your core values and apply them in diverse circumstances.
Develop a being over having orientation.
Take productive action amidst challenges.
Make meaning and move forward after big changes.
And much more!
What is Rugged Flexibility and How Does It Help You Master Change?
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About the Book
From social disruptions like economic recessions, pandemics, and new technologies to individual disruptions like getting married, career transitions, and becoming a parent, we undergo change and transformation—both good and bad—regularly. Change is not the exception, it’s the rule. Yet we endlessly fight it, often viewing it as a threat to our stability and sense of self.
Master of Change flips this script on its head and offers a path for embracing and even growing from life’s constant instability.
Brad Stulberg, sustainable excellence expert, coach, and bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness, offers a new model that describes change as an ongoing cycle of order, disorder, and reorder—yes, we return to stability, but that stability is somewhere new. Drawing on modern science, ancient wisdom, and daily practice, Stulberg offers concrete principles for developing a mindset called rugged flexibility, along with habits and practices to implement it. Along the way, Stulberg reveals:
- -How to be in conversation with change instead of it happening to you.
- -The importance of expectations.
- -Why cultivating a rugged yet flexible sense of self is key to a strong identity.
- -How to take productive action during a challenge.
- -The paradox of both making meaning and moving forward.
In the end, Stulberg reshapes our entire perception of change and shows us how to grow in its midst—ultimately helping us move forward better, stronger, and wiser than we were before.
Praise and Reviews
"Change is inevitable. Will you let this reality destabilize or empower you? Brad Stulberg's immensely wise and timely book provides a powerful roadmap for a tumultuous world."
—Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work
"Fantastic, wide-ranging, and deeply profound, Brad Stulberg's new book is a reminder that the most important two-word summary of life is: everything changes. In a world of constant economic, technological, and political upheaval, it's more important than ever that we learn to face life with tragic optimism—to continuously rediscover meaning and strength despite life's inevitable challenges and suffering. Stulberg's book is an exceptional guide to this critical virtue. A must read."
—Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, host of Plain English podcast, author of national bestseller Hit Makers
"Master of Change challenges our inherent resistance to change, providing carefully researched suggestions that will help you embrace and rise to meet it. Stulberg’s thoughtful book is a delight to read and will arm you with valuable wisdom for navigating life’s unexpected plot twists."
—Katy Milkman, New York Times bestselling author of How to Change
"Uncertainty and changeability are the reality for us all. This is a fascinating and inspiring field guide not merely to 'coping with' this reality, but plunging into it – even becoming one with it – so as to grow and flourish here and now."
—Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks
"According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, you can’t step in the same river twice. Brad Stulberg makes you wonder why you’d want to. Change is inevitable, but if we learn to struggle with it, not against it, we become like rivers ourselves: fluid, flexible, yet ruggedly defined. This book speaks to the twists and eddies in our lives with uncommon warmth and wisdom."
—Kieran Setiya, author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way
"In a world where constant flux is the only certainty, the ability to reframe and adapt to change — rather than resist or deny it — is essential to wellbeing. In Master of Change, Brad Stulberg wields his characteristically deft mix of science and philosophy to provide a blueprint for embracing the unexpected."
—David Epstein, author of Range
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About Brad Stulberg
Brad Stulberg researches, writes, and coaches on health, well-being, and sustainable excellence. He is the bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness and co-author of Peak Performance. Stulberg regularly contributes to the New York Times, and his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine, Forbes, and other outlets. He also serves as the co-host of The Growth Equation podcast and is on faculty at the University of Michigan’s Graduate School of Public Health. In his coaching practice, he works with executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, and athletes on their mental skills and overall well-being. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.