Shortform Books

Nathaniel Branden on Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem

What does self-awareness have to do with self-esteem? How can living with self-awareness make you feel better about yourself? Living with awareness improves your self-esteem by developing your self-efficacy: You react appropriately to your reality, so you make better decisions. With each good decision you make, you gather evidence that you’re capable—which increases your confidence that you’ll be capable in the future, and thus your self-esteem. Keep reading to learn about the connection between self-awareness and self-esteem.

How to Heal From Childhood Trauma & Take Ownership

Can you heal yourself from generational trauma? How can you root out inherited trauma once and for all? Moving beyond childhood trauma is liberating and empowering. To do so, you can practice four healing rituals that will bring serenity into your life: visualizing positive images, mending broken relationships, planting a tree, and volunteering. Here’s how to heal from childhood trauma, according to inherited trauma expert Mark Wolynn.

Success Guilt: Do You Downplay Your Success?

Do you often find yourself downplaying your success? Why do people feel guilty about becoming successful? Many people feel the need to downplay their successes to avoid making other people look bad or feel bad about themselves. Further, they may even subconsciously self-sabotage to protect those whom they believe will be hurt by their success. Keep reading to learn about the psychology of success guilt, according to Gay Hendricks.

Organizational Planning: Why Strategic Plans Fail

Do you use organizational planning for your business? Why will it ultimately fail your business in the long run? In a typical company, senior leadership comes up with a strategic plan for success and then communicates it to their direct reports. The message is then passed down until it reaches the execution team, which makes its own plans based on the directives from the higher-ups. The problem with this dynamics is that plans made by higher-ups tend to disregard the daily struggles of their employees who make the magic happen. Here’s why strategic plans often fail.

Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: An Overview

What is Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks about? What is the key message to take away from the book? In Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman argues that the idea that you can wield perfect control over your time is a delusion that only fosters guilt and unhappiness. His solution is for humans to accept that they only have a finite amount of time and to operate within realistic parameters to make their lives as enjoyable and meaningful as possible. Below is a brief overview of Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman.

Do Men Want to Get Married? Likely Not

Do men want to get married? Why do men reject the idea of a long-term relationship? According to Rollo Tomassi, the author of The Rational Male, men have a natural tendency to seek multiple partners throughout their life and thus have no urge to settle down. Women, however, are more likely to seek a committed relationship. Here’s why men don’t want to settle down, according to Tomassi.

What Are the Types of Freedom? Amartya Sen Explains

What are the types of freedom, according to Amartya Sen? Why is it important for governments to support and instill these types of freedoms into their countries? In Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen makes a philosophical case that freedom-centered development can create a better society and economy. The types of freedom that are essential for a person’s potential are democratic rights, commercial liberties, public provisions, ethical guardrails, and safety nets. Check out what Sen believes are the most important freedoms a person should have.

3 Psychological Benefits of High Self-Esteem

Do you consider yourself a person of high self-esteem? What are the psychological benefits of high self-esteem? High self-esteem benefits every area of your life and makes you generally happier. People who think highly of themselves will chase more ambitious goals and are more likely to achieve them. Keep reading to learn how self-esteem correlates positively with several traits that improve happiness.

The Upper Limit Problem: Why You Feel Stuck in Life

Do you feel stuck? Do you feel as though something is missing in your life, even though you can’t put your finger on what exactly it is? Many people are plagued internally by a sense that there’s something missing in their life. If this sounds like you, you may be unconsciously limiting yourself by the “Upper Limit Problem”—an internal threshold for the maximum degree of success and happiness you’ll allow yourself to experience. According to Gay Hendricks, you get closer to this threshold as you progress further through levels of success. Here’s how Hendricks defines levels of life success and

Are You Living in Awareness or Denial?

Do you feel you are living from a place of awareness or denial? What does it mean to live in awareness? When you live in awareness, you look for information about the external and internal realities that affect your life, accept them, and act accordingly. For example, you take control of your finances by checking your bank account and adjusting your budget as needed. If you don’t look for information about these realities, you’re not living in awareness—you’re choosing ignorance and denying reality on some level. Keep reading to learn what living in awareness is and why it’s important.