Good Habits, Bad Habits by Wendy Wood: Book Overview

A hand reaching for a phone or a book, trying to kick their bad habits for good habits

Have you ever wondered why your best intentions crumble? The answer isn’t a lack of willpower—it’s a misunderstanding of how your brain actually works. According to psychologist Wendy Wood’s research, roughly 43% of your daily actions are automatic habits. This means that no amount of willpower can directly override these deeply embedded behaviors. Wood’s insights in her book Good Habits, Bad Habits reveal that successful habit change requires working with your brain’s natural systems rather than fighting against them. By understanding the three key elements that create habits—context cues, repetition, and rewards—you can redesign your environment and behaviors to make

Leor Zmigrod’s The Ideological Brain: Book Overview

An illustration of a person's brain with colorful light particles emanating from it

What makes some people fall for extreme ideologies while others remain open-minded? The answer might be hiding in our brain structure and thinking patterns. A Cambridge neuroscientist has discovered surprising connections between our neural wiring and our political beliefs. Leor Zmigrod’s The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking shows that ideology isn’t just about the ideas we choose; it’s about how our brains are built to think. Some minds are naturally rigid, while others stay flexible and adapt to new evidence. Read on to discover how ideology rewires your brain—and what you can do to protect yourself from

Andrew Huberman: Cortisol Is Vital for Energy Management

A woman with long brown hair and a thoughtful expression looking at a whiteboard that has "CORTISOL" written on it

Do you sometimes feel energized in the morning but struggle to wind down at night? What if you could get better sleep and sustained energy by leveraging your body’s natural hormone cycles? According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, cortisol gets a bad rap. In an episode of Huberman Lab titled “How to Control Your Cortisol & Overcome Burnout,” he explains how cortisol actually serves as your body’s sophisticated energy management system.

Killing Sacred Cows: Book Overview (Garrett Gunderson)

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Is wealth a zero-sum game with few winners? How can you continuously build wealth? Traditional wisdom tells us to maximize 401(k) contributions, avoid debt, and save diligently for a distant retirement. Garrett Gunderson’s book Killing Sacred Cows breaks down his alternative view of wealth creation and financial freedom: one that promotes strategic planning and empowerment. Read more in our Killing Sacred Cows book overview.

Shortform vs. Blinkist vs. Headway: Comparing the Apps (2025)

Shortform vs. Blinkist vs. Headway: Comparing the Apps (2025)

Do you want to read and learn more, but struggle to find the time to sit down with a book for hours? That’s where book summary apps come in—offering a faster way to absorb key insights from popular books while filtering out the extraneous information. If you’re researching book summary apps, then you’re likely comparing Shortform vs. Blinkist vs. Headway. These three platforms are leading the charge in helping busy people learn more in less time. But, while they all promise to distill big ideas into bite-sized formats, the experience—and the value—can differ quite a bit depending on which one

The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward

Melinda French Gates at the World Economic Forum

How do we navigate life’s major upheavals when our plans suddenly fall apart? What can we learn from someone who successfully rebuilt her identity after divorce, career changes, and personal transformation? Melinda French Gates offers a roadmap for handling transitions in The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward. Drawing from her experiences leaving Microsoft, co-founding the Gates Foundation, divorcing Bill Gates, and becoming a grandmother, she presents practical strategies for moving through uncertainty with grace and purpose. Read more to discover her framework for turning life’s most challenging moments into opportunities.

Get It Done: Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation

A man on a mountaintop triumphantly raising his arm represents Get It Done: Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation

Why do so many people struggle to stick with their goals, even when they start with the best intentions? What if the problem isn’t your willpower, but how you design and pursue your objectives? Ayelet Fishbach’s Get It Done: Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation reveals science-backed strategies for achieving what matters most. Fishbach’s approach shows how to craft compelling objectives, push through the inevitable middle slump, and balance competing priorities without burning out. Read on to discover how small changes in your goal-setting strategy can improve your success rate and help you finally accomplish what you’ve been putting

Habits of a Happy Brain: Book Overview (Loretta Breuning)

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How does the brain create that sweet feeling of happiness? Why is happiness defined as a survival mechanism? Loretta Breuning says that by understanding how your brain achieves happiness, you can rewire it to build positive, sustainable happiness habits. In Habits of a Happy Brain, Breuning discusses the brain chemistry of happiness, how harmful happiness-seeking patterns develop, and her methods for building and maintaining healthier happiness habits. Read more in our Habits of a Happy Brain book overview.

Bill Gates’s Source Code: My Beginnings (Book Overview)

Young Bill Gates with a thoughtful expression sitting in a chair by a window

What childhood experiences shaped Bill Gates into the tech visionary we know today? How did a rebellious middle child from Seattle end up founding one of the world’s most influential technology companies? Bill Gates’s Source Code: My Beginnings reveals these formative moments. The book traces his journey from an energetic troublemaker to a pioneering entrepreneur. Gates shares stories about family influences, early computer encounters, and the friendships that changed everything. Continue reading for an overview of this autobiography.

Why Shortform Is the Best App for Productivity & Habits

A man sitting at a table with a coffee who is using the Shortform app on his phone

Time feels more limited than ever, and it’s easy to get pulled in a dozen directions at once. You might’ve already tried productivity apps, color-coded calendars, and endless to-do lists, but they don’t always help and can sometimes cause you to become even more stressed.  Shortform takes a different approach. While Shortform is known mostly as a premium book summary app, it’s also one of the best apps for productivity. Here’s why. Get to the Important Stuff, Faster  Shortform has an impressive library of productivity books—from timeless classics like Getting Things Done and Atomic Habits to newer titles like The