Shortform Books

Oh Crap! Potty Training: The 5 Blocks to Follow

What are the five Oh Crap! Potty Training blocks? How do you know when it’s time to move to the next block? In her book Oh Crap! Potty Training, parenting coach and social worker Jamie Glowacki explains her block method for potty training. She calls them “blocks” rather than “days” because each child will progress at their own pace, and there’s no correct amount of time each block should take. Here’s how to potty train your child using the block method.

How the Loss of Individuality Can Cause Evil

What is a loss of individuality? How can losing your sense of self and others cause evil? In The Lucifer Effect, psychologist Philip Zimbardo states that losing awareness of individuals can shift your morals. He also explains how this loss affected participants in the Stanford Prison Experiment. Continue reading to learn more about how a loss of individuality can affect morality.

How to Manifest Your Dream Life: 3 Tips From Vex King

What does your dream life look like to you? What can you do to make your dream life a reality? According to Vex King, the author of Good Vibes, Good Life, you can attain your ideal life by visualizing your desires and taking steps to achieve them. But many people don’t even know what their dream life entails—you can’t move forward if you don’t know the destination. Here’s how to manifest your dream life.

Daily Mantra Meditation for Happiness and Success

How to Visualize the Life You Want to Have in 3 Steps

What’s the purpose of a mantra? What are the psychological benefits of practicing mantra meditation? Reciting mantras is traditionally a Buddhist practice aimed at cultivating the mind’s qualities of mindfulness and concentration. More recently, mantra meditation has become a more mainstream practice recommended by positive psychologists and self-help gurus. According to Gay Hendricks, the author of The Big Leap, reciting mantras can help you reprogram your mind from life’s conditioning and limiting beliefs. Here’s Gay Hendricks’ mantra meditation for happiness and success.

Intermittent Fasting: How to Lose Weight Naturally

Have you tried dieting for weight loss but found that the excess weight always comes back? Are there weight loss methods that work long-term? Dieting for weight loss rarely works in the long term. When the diet is over, many people find that the weight comes back. Some people even pack on more excess weight than they had before the diet. If this sounds like you, it’s time to leave a dieter’s mindset and instead adopt an intermittent fasting (IF) mindset. Here’s how to lose weight with intermittent fasting.

Brené Brown: Emotions and Their Near Enemies

What are “near enemies”? What are some examples of emotional near enemies? According to Brené Brown, emotions and traits have “near enemies”—states that feel similar but come from a different place. For example, the near enemy of hope is blind optimism, and the near enemy of self-sufficiency is hyper-independence. Here are some of the common near enemies you might fight within yourself.

Giulia Enders: What Do Carbs Do for Your Body?

What do carbohydrates do for your body? Should you avoid eating carbs altogether? Many diets require you to cut out carbohydrates (carbs) to lose weight. But carbs play some important roles in the body, apart from providing energy. Moreover, not all carbs are villains. Keep reading to learn what carbs do for your body.

How Does Insulin Cause Weight Gain?

What triggers insulin release? How does insulin cause weight gain? Insulin is released every time you eat. Most people eat every few hours, which leads to chronically high insulin levels. Constant feeding means a constant influx of glucose, which is the body’s preferred fuel—there’s no need to tap into fat stores for energy. Keep reading to learn about the role of insulin in weight gain.

3 Devastating Problems in Developing Countries

What problems are developing countries facing? What are the causes of these problems? Hunger, population control, and famine are among the most concerning issues in less developed countries. Amartya Sen in Development as Freedom says that the underlying causes might not be what you think they are. Let’s look at these particular problems in developing countries and why Sen believes they became problems in the first place.

Slip-Box: The Best Way to Organize Your Notes

Are your notes all over the place? What is the best way to organize notes? If you find it difficult to organize your notes, you should try the slip-box note-taking system. Slip-box is a method of taking notes and organizing them that fosters the creation and publication of original ideas. Here’s how to organize your notes using the slip-box method.