Shortform Books

What Happens When You Fast?

What happens when you fast? How long does it take to start losing weight when fasting? What are the common side-effects of fasting? When you fast for extended periods of time, your body goes into a fat-burning mode. However, it takes some time to start seeing weight loss—your body needs to adapt to tapping into your fat stores for energy. During this acclimation phase, you may feel some adverse effects, including lethargy, headaches, and fatigue. Keep reading to learn what happens in your body when you fast.

How Feeling Unworthy Eats Away at Your Success

Do you ever struggle with feelings of unworthiness? Do you feel like you’re flawed at your core and fundamentally “not good enough”? Many people struggle with feeling unworthy and fundamentally flawed at their core. The belief that you’re unworthy of success and happiness takes its roots in childhood, which is why it’s so difficult to transcend. Here’s how feelings of unworthiness eat away at your happiness and progress.

Niklas Luhmann: Zettelkasten’s Origin Story

What is the Zettelkasten note-taking system? How is Zettelkasten superior to the traditional note-taking methods? The Zettelkasten (also known as the slip-box) system was invented by Niklas Luhmann, an incredibly productive German sociologist. Not only did Luhmann publish nearly 60 books within his lifetime, but he also has several posthumously-published books to his name—thanks to the ideas he collected within his slip-box. Keep reading to learn about the origins of Luhmann’s Zettelkasten note-taking method.

Choose Your Friends Wisely: Skills for Life

How do friends influence your life? Do your friends encourage and support you in your endeavors? Or do they judge and bring you down? As a famous quote says, you are the sum of the five people whom you spend the most time with. Being friends with toxic people who always complain or bring you down will rub off you. Therefore, you must choose your friends wisely. Here is how your closest relationships influence your success and wellbeing.

What Could Have Prevented the Irish Potato Famine?

What was the Great Famine? What could have prevented the Irish potato famine? Between 1845 and 1849, Ireland experienced mass starvation and disease after most potato crops got infected. Amartya Sen uses the example of England’s lack of support during the potato famine to demonstrate how easy it is to prevent famines. Keep reading to learn what could have prevented the potato famine and how famines can be prevented today.

What Happened to You? Oprah and Perry on Trauma

What do Oprah and Bruce Perry say about childhood trauma in their book What Happened to You? In what ways can childhood trauma follow you to adult life? What can you do to ease your suffering? In What Happened to You?, Oprah Winfrey and renowned psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry discuss how childhood trauma can have a severe and lasting impact on the brain—and thus our worldview, health, and behavior—sometimes without us even realizing it. They also describe how to begin the healing process with compassion for yourself and others. Here’s an overview of Oprah and Bruce Perry’s discussions on childhood

Nathaniel Branden: Self-Esteem Explained

How to Build Faith in Yourself and Change Your Life

What exactly is self-esteem? What are the two components of self-esteem? According to psychotherapist and self-esteem expert Nathaniel Branden, self-esteem is the tendency to believe that you’re capable of handling the fundamental necessities of life and that you deserve happiness. Branden calls this confidence in your own capability “self-efficacy” and your belief that you deserve happiness “self-respect.” Both are essential ingredients of self-esteem: You cannot have healthy self-esteem if you lack either. Keep reading to learn about the two essential components of self-esteem, how your choices affect your self-esteem, and why self-esteem matters.

Why the Minimum Wage Should Be Raised (Maid Book)

Why should the minimum wage be raised? How does Stephanie Land’s life story support the idea of the minimum wage being raised? In her memoir Maid, Stephanie Land talks about her time working as a maid. She made minimum wage, which was $8.55 an hour in Washington in 2009. Because she was in poverty and government assistance rarely helped her, the minimum wage wasn’t enough to cover her essential needs. Keep reading to learn more about why the minimum wage should be raised.

What Is the Scrum Method? The 2 Key Principles

What is the Scrum method? How is the Scrum method better than traditional management methods? Although it’s widely used in software engineering today, the Scrum method was first introduced in 1995 by software developer and management expert Jeff Sutherland. Despite the fact that his book Scrum never took off, the Scrum method itself did. Here’s a look at the Scrum method and its origins.

What Does Market Share Mean & How Do You Find It?

What does market share mean? How do you calculate market share? According to William M. Luther, market share is the percentage of sales earned by a specific company. He explains how to calculate market share in his book The Marketing Plan. Keep reading to learn the meaning of market share and Luther’s advice on acquiring market shares.