The World's Best Book Summaries
How much direction should managers give employees? Why is autonomy in the workplace important? At work, your manager might judge your performance with benchmarks calibrated to the average worker. Psychologist Todd Rose argues in The End of Average that individuality among employees is ultimately better for a company’s bottom line. Autonomy is a key that unlocks this door. Read more to understand why autonomy is important in the workplace.
Are there people who are making your work life miserable? Have you considered changing jobs just to get away from them? Your work time constitutes a big chunk of your life. The people you work with can make this time pleasant and productive or difficult and distracting. In The Asshole Survival Guide, Robert I. Sutton offers practical advice on how to avoid toxic coworkers or reduce your interactions with them. Read more for strategies that can vastly improve your work life.
Do any of your coworkers disrespect you? Do they make you dread going to work? In The Asshole Survival Guide, organizational psychologist Robert I. Sutton explains how to identify assholes at work. He also discusses three research-backed ways their behavior hurts the people around them. Continue reading for Sutton’s valuable insights.
What’s your destiny? Are you holding onto things that are holding you back? Are you failing to embrace the things that will move you forward? In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron argues that belief is a cornerstone in maximizing your creative potential and achieving your artistic destiny. She shares three tips that can help you believe in your abilities and potential: trust the process, embrace and detach, and nourish yourself. Continue reading to get the details of her advice.
Are you content in your career, or are you itching to make a change? Are you worried about where the job market is headed and wonder how to maintain a competitive edge? Your job is a big part of your life. The more thoughtful and strategic you are about it, the more rewarding it can be. We’ve put together 40 career questions that will help you evaluate your career, assess your professional self, navigate career challenges, and plan for a second career. Continue reading for these questions that could set you up for greater success and fulfillment.
What’s the book Peak Performance about? Why are humans so vulnerable to exhaustion and burnout? In Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness offer a formula for maximizing human performance. This is to help you push beyond your limits and achieve goals that may seem impossible. Read below for a brief Peak Performance book overview.
What skill do you want to learn? How should you go about choosing among the countless options? Skill acquisition expert Josh Kaufman provides a step-by-step process for mastering the basics of any new skill with only 20 hours of practice. His system favors efficiency, so the first step is to choose a skill wisely and then attach a specific goal to it. Continue reading to learn how to take the first step toward learning a new skill in a way that sets you up for success.
Do you tend to fixate on your goals? What do success stories often leave out? Common self-help advice encourages you to set and relentlessly pursue goals designed to realize your ideal version of yourself. Oliver Burkeman notes that striving to achieve such goals creates five adverse effects that prevent you from attaining true happiness and success. Keep reading to learn how chasing success too often leads to failure and dissatisfaction.
Are self-help books truly helpful? What common theme has problems of its own? If you’ve explored self-help advice, you’ve likely come across the belief that thinking positively is the only way to achieve true happiness and success. According to Oliver Burkeman, this widely accepted belief has three downsides that impede happiness. Continue reading to learn about these drawbacks of positive thinking.
When practicing, which is more important—quality or quantity? When should you sleep in relation to your practice time? How much practice should you fit into one day? In The First 20 Hours, skill acquisition expert Josh Kaufman outlines a step-by-step process for mastering the basics of any new skill with only 20 hours of practice. He provides several tips designed to help you get the most out of those 20 hours. Keep reading to get Kaufman’s advice on leveraging the 20-hour rule of skill acquisition.