Feeling Stuck? Here’s How To Achieve a Breakthrough, with Adam Alter

We've all been stuck at some point in our lives — whether we've been stuck at a job and wanting to make a career change, stuck in a location and wanting to move somewhere new, or stuck in relationships or friendships. But the method to getting “unstuck” and achieving a breakthrough might be easier than you think.


Using research-backed tools, New York University's Adam Alter shares his tips for how to get unstuck in his new book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough. Alter shares success stories from some of the world's most successful people, and explains how altering your thoughts and habits could lead you on a better path to success. Alter is a professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business and the Robert Stansky Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow.

0:00 - Introduction: Feeling Stuck?
1:05 - Meet Adam Alter: NYU Professor and Author
2:30 - Understanding Stuckness: A Universal Phenomenon
4:15 - Behavioral Science to the Rescue
5:30 - The Plateau Effect and Life Quakes
7:45 - Goal Gradient Effect: Motivation Over Time
9:20 - Narrow Bracketing: Breaking Down Big Goals
11:10 - The Power of Sacred Pauses
14:00 - Exploration and Exploitation: Keys to a Hot Streak
16:30 - Embracing Failure: Optimal Failure Rate
18:15 - Creativity and Recombination of Ideas
21:00 - Conclusion: Achieving Your Breakthrough