Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You
Brad Stulberg blends research from psychology, biology, and Buddhist philosophy to challenge the idea that a good life is a stable one. He argues that everything from careers to bodies to relationships is in constant flux, and that pretending otherwise is what leaves people brittle. Stulberg introduces rugged flexibility, a stance that holds firm to values while adapting form, and illustrates it with athletes, executives, and ordinary people navigating loss and reinvention. He walks through practices like acceptance, tragic optimism, and self-compassion drawn from clinical psychology and contemplative traditions. The book is short, dense, and closer to a philosophical guide than a self-help program.
Also by Brad Stulberg
What you might want to know about Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A performance coach argues that stability is a myth and offers a mindset he calls rugged flexibility for navigating constant change.
Yes. Newport interviewed Brad Stulberg on his podcast about the book and has recommended it in his newsletter as a thoughtful complement to his own work on slow productivity and identity outside of work.
Not only. Stulberg treats crisis as one case of the constant change everyone lives through, and much of the book applies to ordinary transitions like parenting, aging, or career shifts.
Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You was written by Brad Stulberg, published in 2023 by Harper One.
Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
