Self Help

During his twenty years as a Navy officer and SEAL, Rich Diviney was intimately involved in a specialized SEAL selection process, which whittled a group of hundreds of extraordinary candidates down to a handful of the most elite performers. Diviney was often surprised by which candidates washed out and which succeeded. Some could have all the right skills and still fail, while others he might have initially dismissed would prove to be top performers. The seemingly objective criteria weren’t telling him what he most needed to know: Who would succeed in one of the world’s toughest military assignments?

It is similarly hard to predict success in the real world.

It happens often enough that underdog students accomplish exceptional achievements while highly skilled, motivated employees fail to meet expectations. Dark-horse companies pull away from the pack while dream teams flush with talent and capital go under. In working with and selecting top special operators for decades, Diviney saw that beneath obvious skills are hidden drivers of performance, surprising core attributes—including cunning, adaptability, courage, even narcissism—that determine how resilient or perseverant we are, how situationally aware and how conscientious. These attributes explain how we perform as individuals and as part of a team. The same methodology that Diviney used in the military can be applied by anyone in their personal and professional lives, and understanding these attributes can allow readers and their teams to perform optimally, at any time, in any situation.

Diviney defines the core attributes in fresh and practical ways and shares stories from the military, business, sports, relationships, and even parenting to show how understanding your own attributes and those of the people around you can create optimal performance in all areas of your life.

Do you want to live a meaningful life—with very few regrets—and make a positive difference in the world? But is culture distracting you from doing so? Perhaps moments, days, and years go by without you stopping to ask yourself, Am I living out my true purpose? Even if that question whispers to you, are you brushing it aside because you don’t know what to change in life’s busyness?

In Things That Matter, Joshua Becker helps you identify the obstacles—such as fear, technology, money, possessions, and the opinions of others—that keep you from living with intention, and then he provides practical ideas for letting go of those distractions today so you can focus on what matters most. He uses practical exercises and questions, insights from a nationwide survey, and success stories to give you the motivation you need to

• identify the pursuits that matter most to you
• align your dreams with your daily priorities
• recognize how money and possessions keep you from happiness
• become aware of how others’ opinions of you influence your choices
• embrace what you’re truly passionate about instead of planning that next escape
• figure out what to do with all those emails, notifications, and pings
• let go of past mistakes and debilitating habits

Things That Matter is a book about living well. It’s about overcoming the chatter of a world focused on all the wrong things. It’s about rethinking the common assumptions of today to find satisfaction and fulfillment tomorrow.