Shortform Books

Managing Fear: Techniques to Help You Succeed

Do you feel like fear is holding you back from pursuing your dreams? What fears surface when you think about taking action towards your goals? Fear can prevent you from achieving your goals. Everyone has fears, but successful people feel afraid and take action anyway. They also recognize that reaching their goals isn’t just going to happen—they have to be willing to do the necessary work, which often requires sacrifice. In this article, we’ll offer some tips for managing fear and encouraging yourself to do the work in spite of it.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Police Brutality in India

How Beautiful Forevers Exposes Police Brutality in India

How is police brutality in India relevant to the book Behind the Beautiful Forever? Is the use of excessive force by the police prohibited under Indian law? In the book, Abdul and his father were victims of police brutality. Abdul was arrested after a neighbor accused him of attempted murder, and he was tortured by the police who knew he was innocent. Police brutality in India is prevalent, despite its prohibition by the country’s Civil Rights Act. Read on to learn more about how Abdul in Behind the Beautiful Forevers became a victim of police brutality in India.

How Caring About What Others Think Makes Us Better

How can caring about what others think of us make us better people? What power does this kind of pressure have? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that caring about what others think of us can cause us to make better moral judgments. When we’re concerned about our reputation, we behave better. Read more to learn how caring about what others think of us can make us better people.

Roger Revelle’s Impact on the Climate Change Debate

What was Roger Revelle’s impact on the climate change debate? How did doubt-mongering threaten to discredit him? In their book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway take on individuals or groups who seek to discredit science that they perceive to be a threat to their agenda. One of the targets of a doubt-mongering campaign was Al Gore’s mentor—Roger Revelle. Read more to learn about Roger Revelle and the merchants of doubt.

CBT Session Structure Outlines: A Therapist’s Guide

What is a typical CBT session structure? How does having a clear structure help your patient? Having a regular CBT session structure ensures that the patient and therapist are on the same page and both know what to expect. Each session should follow a clear structure made up of tasks such as identifying problems, setting goals, and assigning homework. Keep reading to find outlines of exemplary CBT session structures.

How to Follow Through on Commitments: Simple Skills

Do you tend to follow through on commitments or quit halfway? How do you feel when you fail to stick it through? What do you think is stopping you from seeing things to completion? Making agreements and delivering on them is an important skill for successful people. When you fail to follow through, you risk losing the trust and respect of those around you. Subconsciously or consciously, you may start to doubt your capabilities, which can erode your self-worth. This article will discuss how to follow through on commitments and ensure you deliver.

The 3 Kinds of Globalization: Tech, Business, & Money

What exactly is globalization? What role does technology play in the increasing pace of globalization? Accelerations in technology have resulted in a corresponding acceleration in globalization—the flows of knowledge and information that connect the world and make every part dependent on all the other parts. According to Thomas Friedman, the author of Thank You for Being Late, there are three kinds of globalization happening in the world: 1) the flow of technological knowledge, 2) the flow of business, and 3) the flow of money. Keep reading to learn about the three types of globalization and their implications for the world at

Economics Basics: What Are Negative Externalities?

What are negative externalities? What do governments do in an attempt to control them? Negative externalities are costs incurred by non-involved parties as a result of an economic transaction. To prevent negative externalities, governments may impose externality charges. This article takes a look at negative economic externalities and how governments determine how to levy them on the consumer.

Nir Eyal’s Precommitment Strategy: Price Pacts

Why does Nir Eyal say it’s important to make precommitments to yourself? How can making a price pact help you stay accountable to your goals? Indistractable author Nir Eyal says that precommitments help lock you into traction and keep distractions out. One precommitment strategy he mentions is to make a price pact with yourself. Price pacts make distractions tangible and give you a monetary incentive to stay on track. Here is Nir Eyal’s price pact precommitment strategy in detail.

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield: Key Ideas

What is The Success Principles by Jack Canfield about? What are the major themes and lessons in the book? In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield details 67 principles to help anyone achieve their goals and dreams. The basic formula for success is to identify what you want, know that you deserve to have it, and use the book’s principles to get you there. Below is a brief overview of The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. We combined and reorganized the principles by theme for clarity and coherence.