The World's Best Book Summaries
Can you free yourself from suffering? How can embracing suffering help you free yourself from it? According to Buddhism, suffering is inherent to human existence. That’s why the first step toward eliminating suffering is, paradoxically enough, to accept it. There are four strategies to embrace suffering: 1) don’t take things personally, 2) stop feeling guilty, 3) contemplate your mortality, and 4) stop resisting change. Let’s explore each in more detail.
Do you know what makes you happy in life? How do you know whether a certain choice or decision will make you happy in the end? You never know for sure whether a certain path is going to make you happy in the end. According to Brian Christian and Thomas Griffiths, the authors of Algorithms to Live By, computer science has the answer to this dilemma: to maximize happiness in your life, pursue whatever opportunity has a chance to be the greatest. Here is why to maximize happiness, you need to put your faith in the unknown.
What is virtuous life? What exactly does it mean to live virtuously? According to Ryan Holiday, the author of The Obstacle Is the Way, we have a moral obligation to live a virtuous life. A virtuous person, by Holiday’s definition, is someone who honestly works to improve their lives and the lives of others as much as possible. Here’s what it means to live virtuously, according to Holiday.
How do you set goals for ACT? How do goals relate to values? Goals are the actionable components of values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Knowing your values isn’t sufficient for you to live a fulfilled life—you also have to take effective action, or action aligned with your values. In order to take effective action, you have to translate your values into achievable goals. In this article, you’ll learn how to translate your values into action via goal-setting and action plans.
What does Buddhism say about suffering? Can you really be free from suffering? According to Buddhism, suffering is an inescapable fact of life. That’s why—paradoxically enough—freeing yourself from suffering requires that you first accept it as inherent to your existence. Let’s explore the Buddhist take on suffering as a part of life and why you shouldn’t fight it.
What is value innovation? How do Kim and Mauborgne define “value innovation” in the context of blue ocean strategy? Value innovation is the cornerstone of Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean strategy. The authors clarify that blue ocean innovation is not a matter of merely raising or lowering value in order to raise or lower your costs. Instead, Kim and Mauborgne assert that you need a breakthrough that allows you to offer better value at a lower cost. Keep reading to learn about the concept of blue ocean innovation (or “value innovation”) and how it creates blue oceans through new ideas
How should you optimally spend your working hours every day? What tasks should you complete first? Your optimal scheduling depends on your goals and priorities. In their book Algorithms to Live By, Christian and Griffiths make a case of using computer algorithms to schedule your day in the most optimal way. Here is how to schedule your time using Christian and Griffiths’s scheduling algorithms.
Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths’ Algorithms to Live By worth reading? What is the key message to take away from the book? In their book Algorithms to Live By, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths make the case that computer science, a field that’s typically seen as highly specialized, actually contains a wealth of practical knowledge we can use to improve our lives. The authors argue that by utilizing the same strategies as computers, we can process tasks with blinding efficiency and quickly come up with creative solutions to complex problems. Here is our review of Algorithms to Live By:
What is committed action in ACT? What does it mean to act with commitment? Committed action is the final principle in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Committed action happens when we consistently take actions that align with our values—even when we fail. This final principle will give you all the tools you need to achieve psychological flexibility, enabling you to adapt to difficult situations and take effective action to build a rich and meaningful life. Keep reading to learn about the two components of committed action: fortitude and commitment.
What is Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle Is the Way about? What is the Stoic secret to staying calm and unperturbed in the face of adversity? The Obstacle Is the Way is an instruction manual on how to solve life’s toughest problems, based on the teachings of the Stoics of Ancient Greece. Ryan Holiday argues that by adopting the Stoics’ historically proven formula for success, you can redirect the forces that typically work against you and will them to push you toward your goals. The following The Obstacle Is the Way review covers the book’s context, background, and critical reception by