The World's Best Book Summaries
What can you learn by examining examples of change? Can you copy success to make your own way? When you want to make changes, you should seek out examples of change to see what works and what doesn’t. Success stories are not only inspiring, they’re instructive. Copy success when you find it. Read more to learn how to seek out examples of change and put them to work for you.
Are you the kind of person who puts a lot of effort into making sure things stay as they are? Do you resist change? When you need to overcome resistance to change, it can help to appeal to identity—what kind of person someone is, what they value, and how they make decisions. You need to either align your proposed change with someone’s identity or align their identity with your proposed change. Keep reading to learn how to cultivate identity to overcome resistance to change.
What is Commander’s Intent? How can using the commander’s intent principle help you communicate more effectively? The Army adopted the concept of “Commander’s Intent” in the 1980s. It refers to a concise statement that lays out the goal or intended outcome, allowing people to react to changing circumstances as they pursue a clear goal. You can use this concept to pinpoint the essence of a message that you want to communicate effectively to others. Read more to learn about Commander’s Intent and its application.
Are you open to grace? What happens if you aren’t? In The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck discusses the importance of being open to grace. He believes that grace is a tool for spiritual evolution—and that rejecting it can hinder our growth and even lead to mental illness. Read more to learn why it’s important to be open to grace.
In what way is separateness a healthy aspect of relationships? Is growth as a couple more important than growth as individuals? In The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck argues that couples should embrace separateness. It’s a myth that love prioritizes growth as a couple. In reality, love puts growth as individuals first. Only then does true growth occur. Continue reading to learn about the value of separateness.
What constitutes biased decision-making? Are you guilty of it? We all tend to let our biases influence our decisions. While we can’t completely eliminate distorted beliefs, we can get better at managing bias—and keep biased decision-making at bay. Read more to learn how to recognize and mitigate biased decision-making.
What environments support change? How can routines and spaces be modified to make change easier? If you want to effect change, you should support change by creating an environment that smoothes the path. A change-supporting environment makes it harder to do the “old thing” and easier to do the “new thing.” Keep reading to learn how to support change by modifying your environment.
How can you effectively communicate your idea by including an appeal to emotion? How can you get people to care about your message? If you want people to hear your message and do something about it, you have to get them to care. An appeal to emotion—making people feel something—is key to making messages stick. Keep reading to learn effective ways to make an appeal to emotion.
How do you embrace grace? What happens when you do? Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, in his book The Road Less Traveled, explains that it is important to embrace grace along the path of your spiritual evolution. Grace isn’t something you can search for, but it’s something you should prepare yourself to receive. When it arrives, it brings meaning to every part of your life. Keep reading to learn how to embrace grace.
When love is real, how do you know? What is it like? Often we throw around the word “love” too easily. Sometimes we use it with all seriousness—yet our definition is seriously wrong. It’s important to know what genuine love is, as it is a huge aspect of life. Keep reading to learn how to know when love is real.