Hannah Aster, Author at Shortform Books

What Is Radical Acceptance? It’s Freedom

What is Radical Acceptance? How does Mohini the tiger’s story perfectly illustrate the concept? What are the two key aspects of Radical Acceptance? Radical Acceptance is comprised of mindfulness and compassion. Mindfulness is the practice of understanding what is happening to us physically, mentally, and emotionally, without being ruled by it and compassion is responding with care and tenderness. Both aspects are needed for Radical Acceptance. Continue reading to learn about Radical Acceptance and how you can free yourself.

Buddha Under the Bodhi Tree: Learn to Pause

What is the story of Buddha under the Bodhi Tree? How can taking the time to pause give you a temporary nirvana? After several years of searching for the answer to happiness, Siddhartha Gautama took a moment to pause under a tree. At this moment, he came to realize that there was room in the world for both suffering and beauty to coexist. Continue on for the full story of Buddha and the Bodhi Tree.

The Law of Singularity: Focus on Impactful Strikes

What is the Law of Singularity in marketing? Why is it better to focus your efforts on one big jab rather than multiple small punches? The Law of Singularity states that you should focus on finding opportunities to make a bold move that makes a big impression. The Law of Candor goes further to say that that big impact may even be the act of acknowledging your own negative attributes and exploiting them. Continue reading about the Law of Singularity and the Law of Candor from The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.

What Happened to the Netscape Browser?

What was the history of the Netscape browser? What lead to its downfall? Where is Netscape now? In Ben Horowitz’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, he talks about the rise and fall of the Netscape browser. What started as a promising venture fell apart when Microsoft entered their playing field. Keep reading to learn about the history of the Netscape browser.

What Is Deep Work and Why Is It So Important?

What is deep work and how does it differ from shallow work? Why is deep work so rare and valuable these days? Why does deep work help with learning and productivity? Deep work is focused and undistracted work that pushes your cognitive abilities to their limit. In contrast, shallow work describes tasks that aren’t demanding such as answering emails. Continue on to learn more about deep work and why it’s so important.

Ben Horowitz’s Book: Hard Parts of Owning a Business

What is Ben Horowitz’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things about? What don’t other books tell you about owning a business? Ben Horowitz’s book talks about the things that other management books either gloss over or omit. His book discusses the hard parts of starting a business, being a CEO, scaling your business, and making a good place to work. Continue on for advice from Ben Horowitz’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.

Radical Self-Acceptance: You Have to Break to Heal

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in your shortcomings? Do you feel like you can only focus on your flaws and the flaws of others? When we feel like we’ve hit our lowest point, or “hit rock bottom”, it’s the perfect time to open up to Radical Self-Acceptance. We can realize that even if we’re “flawed”, we don’t need to be constantly watching and judging ourselves. We often find that we have to be truly, deeply injured before we can begin to heal. Keep reading to learn how you can practice Radical Self-Acceptance to pull yourself out of a

Be Compassionate Like a Buddhist Bodhisattva

What is a bodhisattva in Buddhism? How can you work to rid yourself of feelings of otherness? Why is it so important to expand your group? In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is someone who could enter Nirvana, but chooses to stay on Earth and help others reach it instead. While it would be difficult for most of us to start making sacrifices for others, we can still work to be more compassionate and to eliminate the lines between “us” and “them.” Continue on to learn more about bodhisattvas and selflessness.

The History of Loudcloud: From Thriving to Spiraling

What is the history of Loudcloud? How did the company go from raking in money to almost bankrupt in a matter of years? How did they manage to survive the dotcom crash? In 1999, Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen founded Loudcloud. The company took off running, leading to exponential growth. Then, as quickly as it grew, Loudcloud almost went bankrupt. They were forced to go public and make big company changes. Read on to learn more about the history of Loudcloud.

Which Deep Work Schedule Is Right For You?

What are the four types of deep work schedules? How can you fit deep work into your life? The four types of deep work schedule are: the monastic schedule, bimodal schedule, rhythmic schedule, and the journalistic schedule. Each type has its pros and cons and not all types are feasible for every lifestyle. Keep reading to learn about the different deep work schedules and which one is best for you.