Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most

NYU marketing professor Alter (Irresistible) delivers a useful guide to getting past barriers to progress. Periods of creative, professional, or personal stagnation are “a feature rather than a bug on the path to success,” he argues, and they can be surmounted by utilizing the right “emotional, mental, and behavioral tools.” First, the author normalizes “stuckness,” which can feel isolating, because people “tend to wrestle their demons” behind closed doors. Next, he suggests ways to handle its emotional consequences, such as by learning to live with the prospect of failure and striving for progress instead of perfection. Other strategies involve imposing parameters on projects (“once your field of options shrinks, you’re free to be creative with the options that remain”), or working with new creative partners who could have fresh perspectives. Alter draws on abundant examples of artists, entrepreneurs, and athletes who forged their own breakthroughs, among them actor Brie Larson, who endured “decades of frustration” before eventually winning an Academy Award, and Claude Monet, who couldn’t paint for two years following his wife’s death, but later produced some of his most celebrated works. Though occasionally repetitive, Alter’s advice is solid and confidence boosting, with a heartening message that’s grounded in clear scientific research. This is persuasive and practical. (May)