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Distancing

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Distance gives you perspective. Bestselling author of Turn the Ship Around! David Marquet and professor of psychology Michael Gillespie show you how to make better decisions by becoming your own coach.


Be yourself. Be fully present. Be in the moment. That is the message we hear constantly. Yet, the biggest obstacle to making wiser, more successful decisions is often... ourselves. Our limited perspective biases our choices, leading us to defend past actions rather than seek better alternatives. We need to step outside our narrow view and gain an objective, fresh perspective. In other words, we need a coach.

In Distancing, former David Marquet and Michael Gillespie show us how to coach ourselves into making better decisions using a powerful mental technique called psychological distancing. By practicing:
Self-distancing: we can be someone else, adopting a neutral observer’s perspective.
Spatial distancing: we can be somewhere else, zooming out and seeing ourselves as part of a larger picture.
Temporal distancing: we can be sometime else, assessing our decisions through the eyes of our future self.

Backed by compelling scientific research, real-world examples and hands-on exercises,
Distancing empowers you to break free from self-limiting patterns and make clearer, smarter choices. The tools are simple. The impact is profound.

© L. David Marquet 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

A key challenge we all struggle with at times is the ability to extract ourselves from the immediacy of the moment when we become too overwhelmed to think clearly and objectively. Distancing provides readers with a tactical, science-based blueprint for managing these situations. Clearly written and deeply researched, it's a tour-de-force
Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Shift and Chatter

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