Hannah Aster

SEO Team Lead

Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.

Expertise

Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing

How Personal Finance Stories May Be Influencing You

Do you allow personal finance stories to change how you use your money? Do finance stories scare you away from making certain decisions or inspire you to invest in certain things? According to Morgan Housel, the author of The Psychology of Money, falling for financial success stories can cause you to make poor financial decisions. Listening to the personal finance stories of others can influence you to risk your financial health based on hope, or even make you think that you have more control than you actually do. Here’s why you should be careful what stories you believe about money.

Spending More Than You Earn = A Lifetime of Poverty

Do you ever make purchases even though you know they will put you in debt? Do you know how spending more than you earn can affect you for years to come? In his book The Millionaire Fastlane, MJ DeMarco discusses insatiable consumption, or the never-ending desire to spend money. While spending money isn’t fundamentally a bad thing, if you spend more than you earn, you are dooming yourself to a lifetime of poverty. Here’s why you should think twice before buying things you don’t need.

Why Do People Play Mind Games?

Why do people play mind games? Do they serve a purpose? At some point in your life, you’ve most likely encountered somebody who likes to play mind games. According to psychiatrist Eric Berne, we all play mind games on each other—it is a normal phase of psychological development. Here’s why we play mind games and why these games matter.

How to Develop a Survival Mentality Around Money

What does it mean to have a survival mentality around money? What three ideas around money should you develop? In his book The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel suggests developing a survival mentality around money. This means accepting that you could lose all your money at any time, so you follow certain steps to ensure you protect your assets. Here are the three steps for developing a survival mindset.

The 7 Different Types of Psychological Mind Games

Why do people play mind games? How can you tell that someone is playing a mind game on you? In his 1964 classic Games People Play, Dr. Eric Berne theorizes that playing mind games is a part of psychological development that all people must grow past. He divided the mind games into seven different categories: 1) pseudo-small talk, 2) couples games, 3) sex games, 4) career games, 5) criminal games, 6) therapy games, and 7) positive games. Let’s take a look at Berne’s categories of psychological mind games people play on each other.

How to Put Together a Long-Term Financial Plan

Do you want to put together a long-term financial plan? Why should you be sensible, rather than logical, when planning for the future? To be logical is to make a decision based on known facts, while to be sensible is to show sound judgment. They are similar, but they are not the same. In his book The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel suggests making sensible decisions when making a long-term financial plan because it will put your mind at peace. Here’s how to create a feasible financial strategy, according to behavioral finance expert Morgan Housel.

How to Create Passive Income: Leverage Time

What’s the quickest way to become wealthy? How can you create passive income? MJ DeMarco, multimillionaire entrepreneur and investor, argues that the traditional path to wealth—working for a salary and investing in stocks—is too slow and unreliable. Instead, he says that the fastest way to become wealthy is to create passive income and increase your net worth. Here’s how to become wealthy by leveraging time.

Signs of Emotional Manipulation & How to Stop It

How do you tell if someone is trying to emotionally manipulate you? What are the signs of emotional manipulation you should watch out for? In his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne explains how to identify when a mind game is being played on you. He provides three steps for spotting mind games and discusses how you can break that game. Here’s how to identify emotional manipulation, according to Berne.