Shortform Books

ACT: Translating Values Into Goals

How do you set goals for ACT? How do goals relate to values? Goals are the actionable components of values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Knowing your values isn’t sufficient for you to live a fulfilled life—you also have to take effective action, or action aligned with your values. In order to take effective action, you have to translate your values into achievable goals. In this article, you’ll learn how to translate your values into action via goal-setting and action plans.

In Buddhism, Suffering Is a Part of Life

What does Buddhism say about suffering? Can you really be free from suffering? According to Buddhism, suffering is an inescapable fact of life. That’s why—paradoxically enough—freeing yourself from suffering requires that you first accept it as inherent to your existence. Let’s explore the Buddhist take on suffering as a part of life and why you shouldn’t fight it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: What Is the Cost of Discipleship?

What is the cost of discipleship? What does it mean to follow Christ? In the classic The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer emphasizes that discipleship is a matter of personal, dynamic obedience to Christ, not to a program of rituals. However, he does draw a blueprint for the general lifestyle of a disciple, based on what Christ taught his original 12 disciples. Four key aspects of a disciple’s life that he discusses are humility, self-denial, suffering, and pacifism. Read more to learn about Bonhoeffer’s view of discipleship.

Blue Ocean Innovation: Better Value at Low Cost

What is value innovation? How do Kim and Mauborgne define “value innovation” in the context of blue ocean strategy? Value innovation is the cornerstone of Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean strategy. The authors clarify that blue ocean innovation is not a matter of merely raising or lowering value in order to raise or lower your costs. Instead, Kim and Mauborgne assert that you need a breakthrough that allows you to offer better value at a lower cost. Keep reading to learn about the concept of blue ocean innovation (or “value innovation”) and how it creates blue oceans through new ideas

How to Schedule Your Time in the Most Optimal Way

How should you optimally spend your working hours every day? What tasks should you complete first? Your optimal scheduling depends on your goals and priorities. In their book Algorithms to Live By, Christian and Griffiths make a case of using computer algorithms to schedule your day in the most optimal way. Here is how to schedule your time using Christian and Griffiths’s scheduling algorithms.

How Advertisers Exploit Your Purchasing Habits

How do advertisers manipulate customers into buying their products? How do they use cues to trigger purchasing habits in your subconscious? In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains how advertisers influence customers to buy their products by learning about and manipulating their purchasing habits. They achieve this through sales promotions, rearranging shelves, or tracking your habits online. Continue reading to learn how advertisers use the psychology of habit to sell more products.

Algorithms to Live By: Review and Critical Reception

Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths’ Algorithms to Live By worth reading? What is the key message to take away from the book? In their book Algorithms to Live By, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths make the case that computer science, a field that’s typically seen as highly specialized, actually contains a wealth of practical knowledge we can use to improve our lives. The authors argue that by utilizing the same strategies as computers, we can process tasks with blinding efficiency and quickly come up with creative solutions to complex problems. Here is our review of Algorithms to Live By:

Committed Action: Putting ACT Into Practice

What is committed action in ACT? What does it mean to act with commitment? Committed action is the final principle in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Committed action happens when we consistently take actions that align with our values—even when we fail. This final principle will give you all the tools you need to achieve psychological flexibility, enabling you to adapt to difficult situations and take effective action to build a rich and meaningful life. Keep reading to learn about the two components of committed action: fortitude and commitment.

The Obstacle Is the Way: Review & Critical Reception

What is Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle Is the Way about? What is the Stoic secret to staying calm and unperturbed in the face of adversity? The Obstacle Is the Way is an instruction manual on how to solve life’s toughest problems, based on the teachings of the Stoics of Ancient Greece. Ryan Holiday argues that by adopting the Stoics’ historically proven formula for success, you can redirect the forces that typically work against you and will them to push you toward your goals. The following The Obstacle Is the Way review covers the book’s context, background, and critical reception by

Netflix: Innovation Is a 4-Step Process

What is it like to work at Netflix? Does Netflix have an innovative culture? As a company with no vacation or expense policy, Netflix is no stranger to taking an unorthodox approach to management. One of Netflix’s more unique policies is the freedom it gives to its employees to innovate and make risky decisions, despite the chance that they won’t pay off. Keep reading to learn about Netflix’s method of inspiring innovation (what the company calls the “Netflix Innovation Cycle”).