The World's Best Book Summaries
What is Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop about? What are power statements and how do you use them? In the self-help book Unfu*k Yourself, Gary John Bishop argues that the way you think dictates your reality. He introduces seven power statements that you can tell yourself to help reshape your negative thoughts into positive ones. Keep reading for an overview of Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop.
What’s your work philosophy? How would you spend your time if money were no object? Whom would you trust to help you design your life? In Designing Your Life, Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans share the content of their popular courses and workshops on life design. Using concrete principles and examples, they teach readers how to design a meaningful life in which they can truly thrive. Continue reading to find several Designing Your Life exercises that will help you apply the book’s concepts.
Do you sometimes feel like you’d like to get away from it all? Do you then realize that you can’t actually do that? Former Vedic monk and award-winning content creator Jay Shetty claims that the route to happiness and fulfillment is to Think Like a Monk. According to him, monks are the calmest and happiest people in the world because they live with a sense of purpose that aligns with their true, inner selves. Continue reading for two Think Like a Monk exercises that will help you apply the principles in the book.
What is Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir’s Scarcity about? What is the key message to take away from the book? In their book Scarcity, behavioral science researchers Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir explain how scarcities of time and money temporarily change our brains: They make us more efficient with a limited resource in the short term, but they also decrease our mental bandwidth, distorting the way we process information and make decisions. Below is a brief overview of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir.
Want an overview of The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent? What do the authors say is the secret to overcoming your fears in life? The 50th Law, by rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) and author Robert Greene, argues that the biggest factor holding us back in life is fear. This fearfulness only holds us back from gaining power and success, but Robert Greene and 50 Cent argue that you must become fearless to truly thrive. Read on for a brief overview of The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent.
What’s your self-image? What’s slowing you down in life? Do you have a clear picture of success? Thinking of your mind as a machine can improve your self-image and dramatically increase your ability to feel successful and happy. Maxwell Maltz explores this idea in his book Psycho-Cybernetics. Continue reading for five Psycho-Cybernetics exercises you can use to program your mind and take your life to the next level.
How do you handle stress? Do you stick to your principles when the going gets tough? What effect do stories have on you? The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien tells the stories of a small company of American soldiers serving in the Vietnam War. Through the narrative, the book blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, leaving the reader unsure as to what is fact and what is myth. Continue reading to see several The Things They Carried questions that you can use to get more out of your reading.
What is Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn about? What are the main takeaways of the book? Many people struggle to get started with mindfulness or need a new routine. In Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn provides a guide for anyone who’s interested in exploring mindfulness further, from the tentative beginner to the seasoned practitioner. Read below for a brief overview of Kabat-Zinn’s book.
Would you like to make decisions faster? Is your internal critic way too loud? In Six Thinking Hats, Edward de Bono takes the phrase “put your thinking cap on” to a new level. Our normal thinking process is a hopeless tangle of six types of thinking. We can improve the quality and efficiency of our decisions by untangling these six types and deploying them more consciously. Continue reading for Six Thinking Hats exercises that will help you implement the ideas in the book.
Are we individual beings, or is that a false sense of identity? Is everything relative? What’s wrong with reductive science? Many Westerners internalize the idea that each of us is an individual—separate from others and our surroundings. However, in The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, British philosopher Alan Watts argues that the concept of humans as separate beings is an illusion: the ego trick. Read more for an overview of this thought-provoking book.