The World's Best Book Summaries
How many reps and sets should you do during your workouts? Why is double progression effective? Personal trainer Michael Matthews recommends a workout program based on progressive overload—a workout approach that maximizes muscle growth. One way of applying progressive tension overload is double progression. Keep reading to learn about the double progression method and why it works so well.
What are junk-rated bonds? How did junk bonds become popular on Wall Street? After mortgage bonds began to decline on Wall Street, junk-rated bonds were next on the market. But unlike how Salomon Brothers took advantage of mortgage bonds to make a penny, junk bonds would be used against the investment bank. Find out how junk-rated bonds ended up hurting Salomon Brothers.
Do we need empathy to understand and practice morality? What should guide our moral decisions? In Against Empathy, psychologist Paul Bloom argues that we rely too heavily on our emotions—especially empathy—to guide our judgments, decisions, and behavior. He suggests that our empathic responses to other people can lead us away from the morally good and right course of action. Read more to learn how to be a moral person by putting empathy in what Bloom believes is its proper place.
Do you have any guilty pleasures you’re ashamed of? Why is embracing your guilty pleasures with existential kink the best way to combat them? The premise of existential kink is that the negative patterns—of feelings, behaviors, and so on—we see recurring in our lives are the manifestations of our unconscious desires. The only way to eliminate our negative patterns is to acknowledge, embrace, and take conscious pleasure in our guilty pleasures. Below, we’ll dive into the principles of existential kink to better understand how to embrace your guilty pleasures.
When are you most creative? What’s your chronotype? Do you leverage this information for maximum creativity and productivity? You have a particular rhythm of energy and alertness. When you’re aware of your ebbs and flows, you can schedule your day accordingly. This can help you maximize your creative work. Read on to get practical tips from creativity coach Mark McGuinness and bestselling authors Daniel H. Pink and Cal Newport.
What is Peak TV? Why are some people saying it’s dead? What does the future hold for viewers whose days of choosing from an overwhelming abundance of programming are allegedly over? Peak TV is dead—and the days of Americans being able to choose from the greatest-ever number of original scripted shows is over, according to some. With rising production costs, lagging streaming adoption rates, and strikes, some argue that programming will decline, while others say it’s simply a new era. Keep reading to find out whether Peak TV is really dead or not.
What is the book Barbarians at the Gate about? What was the biggest leveraged buyout in history? In their book Barbarians at the Gate, Bryan Burrough and John Helyar detail the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, which is the biggest business transaction of the 20th century. The high value of the transaction, as well as the unusually competitive bidding in the LBO process, caught the attention of the press. Read below for a brief Barbarians at the Gate book overview.
How valuable is your time? Does the “time is money” mentality make you anxious? In her book Do Nothing, Celeste Headlee writes that, for many people, time feels scarce and too valuable to squander. She argues that the modern pressure to constantly be productive stems, in part, from changing perceptions of how valuable one’s time is. Keep reading to learn about the fear of wasting time and where it comes from.
How can every employee contribute to an organization’s objectives? Why is it important to set both short-term and long-term goals? In When They Win, You Win, employee experience expert Russ Laraway explains how you, as a manager, are responsible for helping your team contribute to your business’s goals. He divides these objectives into four tiers, starting with shorter-term goals and culminating in the company’s long-term goal. Read more to learn about a business’s long-term objectives and its ultimate aspiration—and how these complement each other.
Do you work on your creative pursuits only when inspiration strikes you? Do you tend to start more than you finish? Often, creatives are thought of as free and unstructured. But, successful creative professionals know the importance of a consistent schedule. Not only can a routine help you follow through and get things done, but it also can spark creativity and confidence. Read more to learn about the importance of a consistent schedule with insights from Gretchen Rubin and James Clear.