The World's Best Book Summaries
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.
Why is it important to spend time alone with God? What are the key benefits? Silent communion with God gives you a chance to clear your mind, consider what’s really important in your life, and practice gratitude. With busy schedules and crammed calendars, it’s easy to forget the importance of time alone with God, but it should remain a priority. Here are some good reasons you should prioritize time alone with God.
What is intrinsic motivation? How does the intrinsic drive compare to extrinsic rewards when it comes to performance? Intrinsic motivation is a desire to do something for internal satisfaction, not for external rewards. External rewards (e.g. financial compensation) enhance performance in the short term, while intrinsic motivation is more enduring—it doesn’t decay as external rewards do. In this article, we’ll look at the psychology of intrinsic motivation, and the role of intrinsic rewards in performance enhancement.
What is a financial investment? Why do people invest their hard-earned money in spite of the unpredictability of return and other risks? Investment is the sacrificing of money, goods, and services today to have more valuable money, goods, and services in the future. Because the future is unknown, investments necessarily involve risks, which must be compensated to make it worthwhile for people to undertake the investments. In this article, you’ll learn about the types of financial investments, how they work, and their associated risks.
What are monopolies? Why are they harmful to economies? In short, a monopoly exists when a specific person or organization is the only supplier of a particular good or service. This causes a market distortion and reduces consumer welfare. Monopolies face little to no economic competition to produce goods, have few substitutes that consumers can use instead, and are able to price well above what an efficient market would otherwise produce. In this article, we’ll explain the characteristics of the monopoly market structure and discuss how monopolies are maintained.
What are the benefits of powerless communication? How can being less assertive help you win people over? In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant discusses the benefits of powerless communication. Grant explains that while trying to present or sell an idea, showing some hesitancy, vulnerability, and warmth will cause your audience to trust you and be more receptive. Here is why you should drop your aggressive approach to persuasion and adopt some humility.
Do you want to know how to decide what stocks to buy? What are three crucial strategies you should know about? One of the most difficult decisions an investor has to make is how to decide what stocks to buy. But, with approximately 2,800 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where does one start? Economist Burton Malkiel recommends three strategies for picking stocks: The “autopilot” strategy, the “interested-and-engaged” strategy, and the “trust-the-experts” strategy. Find out how to decide what stocks to buy below.
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.
Do you cycle through losing and gaining weight endlessly? How can you keep the weight off for good? In his book The Hacker’s Diet, John Walker says that most people who go on diets tend to gain back all of the weight they lost and sometimes more. Walker proposed two methods for keeping weight off: daily weight tracking and meal planning. Keep reading for Walker’s advice on how to maintain weight loss.