The World's Best Book Summaries
Want to learn how to be more compassionate? What strategies should you practice? According to Susan Cain’s book Bittersweet, learning about the power of sadness is a great way to strengthen your sense of compassion. If you want to learn how to be more compassionate, she suggests practical strategies like cultivating humility or increasing self-compassion. Read on to learn how to be more compassionate, according to Cain’s three strategies.
How can you mitigate the risk of divorce? What personality traits should you look for? How many different types of love do you need? David Brooks takes the relationalist approach to life. In The Second Mountain, he outlines the four commitments that are crucial to relationalism. One of these is marriage, and he shares his criteria for deciding whether to marry someone. Read more to learn Brooks’s advice for how to find the right partner for marriage.
What role does blame play in a marriage? How can you get through the tough times? When should you “recommit”? David Brooks argues that you should embrace relationalism—the worldview that prioritizes selflessness and service to others—to lead a deeply fulfilling life. That includes enjoying a satisfying marriage. In The Second Mountain, he offers recommendations for how to have a successful marriage. Read on to learn how to keep a marriage commitment strong, based on the relationalist approach to life.
Why is emotional safety a human need? How do people achieve emotional safety? Based on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman created a new hierarchy of needs in his book Transcend. According to him, neuroscience and psychological research reveal that we all have security needs, and he notes that emotional safety is one of them. Read on to learn why emotional safety is so important to humans, according to Kaufman.
What is a self-protective attitude? How do we act when we’re too self-protective? What are the risks? In his book Transcend, Scott Barry Kaufman explains what happens when we go too far to protect our egos and self-esteem. According to him, we can develop a self-protective attitude because self-esteem is so important to our psyches, demonstrating unhealthy behaviors to protect our opinions of ourselves. Keep reading to learn about self-protective attitudes and how they can lead to unhealthy behaviors.
How committed are you to your neighbors? Your work? How can commitments see us through tough times? In The Second Mountain, David Brooks endorses the relationalist worldview, arguing that it’s more satisfying that its counterpart (individualism). He outlines the four commitments in life that he believes are crucial to relationalism—your vocation, marriage, community, and belief system. Read on to learn about the four commitments that constitute relationalist living.
What role does your social life play in your health and well-being? Why is it important to surround yourself with the right people? Having a social life is an important factor in one’s mental and physical well-being. But it’s not just being around people that matters. To reap the psychological benefits of socializing, you must surround yourself with the right people. Here’s a look at the importance of social life and some tips for cultivating enriching and emotionally fulfilling relationships.
What is a loving attitude? Why is the ability to love others so important? If you have a loving attitude, it means you have the ability to selflessly give love to others. According to psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, the ability to love is a vital human need and is necessary for personal development and growth in life. Read on to learn about the importance of a loving attitude and how to have one, according to Kaufman.
Want to know how to confront someone when you’re not used to confrontation? How can you get better at handling challenging situations? According to The 50th Law, sometimes it’s necessary to use confrontation, otherwise, people could underestimate or take advantage of you. In the book, the authors explain how to confront someone by describing three uncomfortable situations and how they suggest you react. Read on to learn how to confront someone, according to the techniques in The 50th Law.
Want to know how to become an inspiration to others? What steps can you take to convince others to believe in you? According to the authors of The 50th Law, to become an inspiration to others, it’s important to fully believe in yourself. Once you’ve achieved this, there are three principles you can apply to your life that will help you to become an inspiration to others, claim the authors. Read on to learn how to become an inspiration to others, based on the three principles in The 50th Law.