Shortform Books

The 4 Steps for Critical Thinking: A Process for Any Problem

Do you apply critical thinking to problems that come your way? Could you use a step-by-step process? In Critical Thinking, Logic & Problem Solving, Bigrocks Thinking explains how you can enhance your critical thinking and problem-solving abilities to improve your learning, your work, and your personal life. They share four steps for critical thinking that you can apply to any situation. Continue reading to learn about these four critical thinking steps.

How to Praise Your Child With Empowering Words

Wondering how to praise your child using words? What do experts recommend when it comes to delivering effective praise to children? Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish believe the key to success is teaching kids a communication style that helps them be empathetic and responsible throughout their lives. In their bestselling book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, they explain how to praise your child using descriptive, empowering words. Read on to learn how to praise your child with words, according to Faber and Mazlish’s advice.

How to Make a Story Interesting: Escalate the Hero’s Risk

What does your protagonist care about most? What do they have to lose? If you want to make your story more engaging, Robert McKee recommends that you continue to escalate the risk that your protagonist faces throughout the story. Make it clear what they care about, and put them in increasing peril. Continue reading to understand McKee’s advice for how to make a story interesting.

Breaking Bad Habits: 2 Strategies for Success

Why is it so hard to break bad habits? How can you break the tendency to engage in habitual behaviors that sabotage your success? Bad habits tend to be the behaviors that make us feel good in the short term. Because we seek instant gratification over long-term results, bad habits often seem more appealing than many good habits that require us to put in more work. Here are two strategies for breaking bad habits and forming beneficial habits in their stead.

How to Be Less Sensitive and Live Stress-Free

Do you overreact to criticism or uncomfortable situations? How can you be less sensitive? Sensitivity can show that you’re in touch with your emotions, which is a good thing. On the other hand, being overly sensitive can prevent you from engaging in meaningful social interactions. Get out of your own way and learn how to be less sensitive with our methods.

Who Is William Cooper? An Inveterate Liar or a Heroic Rebel

Who is William Cooper? What are his theories? What are his claims based on? Milton William Cooper was a U.S. Navy veteran, a UFOlogist, and the author of Behold a Pale Horse. In one of the most influential conspiracy theory books ever written, Cooper lays out the roots and methods of a secret movement to topple the American government and establish a global totalitarian order. Continue reading to learn about this intriguing figure.

What Is the Network Effect in Business & How Do You Use It?

How to Build the Next Trillion Dollar Business

What is the network effect in business? Why does it create rapid growth? How do you build a network-based business? In The Cold Start Problem, Andrew Chen explains how to leverage the network effect in business to build a rapid-growth startup. He claims the network effect gives entrepreneurs the power to build billion-dollar companies from the ground up. Read on to learn about the network effect in business and how to use it for growth, according to Chen.

What Do Microbes Do? Their History & Functions Explained

What do microbes do? Why are they important? What is their evolutionary role? When most people think of microbes, the first things that come to mind are disease-causing germs or healthy probiotic yogurts. In I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong explains what microbes do and how most of us are largely unaware of the trillions of microbes on every surface and throughout our bodies. Read on to learn how Ed Yong defines what microbes do, why they’re important, and their significance to evolution.

How Does a Fungus Get Energy? 2 Ways That Fungi Refuel

How does a fungus get energy? What kind of food do fungi eat? Fungi have to eat just like everyone else. According to Merlin Sheldrake’s book Entangled Life, fungi acquire energy through eating and making partnerships with other organisms through symbiosis. Check out how fungi get their energy below.

The Book of Joy: Quotes by Desmond Tutu & the Dalai Lama

Are you looking for the key to a joyful life? How will these The Book of Joy quotes help you find the answer? The Book of Joy, written by Douglas Abrams, documents a week-long conversation between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the nature of joy. The conversation, facilitated by Abrams, took place in 2015, leading up to the celebration of the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. Let’s look at some quotes from The Book of Joy to give you a better picture of Tutu and the Dalai Lama’s teachings.