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101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Book Review

Uncategorized / August 27, 2021 by admin / 3 Comments

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I’ve finally come around to reading the highly recommended “101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think,” and here is my book review.

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Read also:   Rich As F*ck Book Review | 11 Lessons + Quotes

Book Review

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest is basically like a collection of high-quality personal development blog posts. It was a nice and thought-provoking read full of great lessons. The main ones repeatedly appeared throughout the book, so they were really made to stick.

1. Truly living means feeling all feelings to their fullest

If you were always happy, you wouldn’t feel happy at all because you wouldn’t be having the necessary contrast to sadness or any other negative emotion. 

Being happy would just be normal. It would feel good but a bit ‘meh.’ Just like rich people get used to spending insane amounts of money without blinking an eye, you wouldn’t even see yourself as particularly happy if you didn’t experience the alternative. 

Furthermore, your life would stagnate. 

After all, besides chasing pleasure, the biggest motivator for many people is to escape the pain. 

We don’t want to worry about money anymore, so we study hard to get a good job; we don’t want to feel restricted by a 9-to-5 lifestyle anymore, so we build a business, and we are sick of feeling ugly take care of our appearance. 

Previously unimaginable amazing things have resulted from humans wanting a better life. 

None of us would ever live life with our full potential if we always were happy. 

So embrace your negative emotions as well!

2. You’re not meant to be happy all the time

“Negative emotions are good for you. In fact, maintaining a consistent experience of only “happiness”—or any emotion, really—would be a sign of mental illness.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“The goal is not to feel “good” all the time, it’s to be able to express a healthy range of emotion without suppressing or suffering.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“Happy people are not people who “feel good” all the time; they are the people who are able to be guided by their negative emotions rather than paralyzed by them.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“Pain is a signal that something’s wrong, suffering is what happens when we don’t heed it.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

There is a lot of talk in the online world about being a high vibe all the time. Some gurus sell their formula to a high vibe life to hopeful customers. 

And many of those high vibe tips work … until they don’t. 

You can’t avoid negative feelings forever. 

Beyond the previously mentioned point that truly living includes feeling all emotions to the fullest, there is also another reason you shouldn’t suppress negative emotions. 

They are making you aware of a problem you need to deal with. 

The more you suppress your negative emotions instead of dealing with the root of them, the more issues will pop up in your life: anger management issues, anxiety, stress-induced health issues, etc.

Those negative feelings will persist the more you resist them. Instead, healthily deal with them, and if necessary, don’t hesitate to take advantage of professional help. 

3. Life isn’t about goals but the person you become through the pursuit of them

“The point of hard work is to recognize the person it makes you, not what it “gets” you” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“Accomplishing goals is not success. How much you expand in the process is.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“The point of anything is not what you get from having done it; it’s who you become from having gone through it. It’s all about growth at the end of the day. “ – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

Our society has become very goal-oriented. The internet is full of content that’s supposed to help you hustle towards your next big goal.

However, it’s actually not the actual achievement of the goal that makes the biggest difference in your life. It’s more about who you become during the journey. 

If you learn to see the benefit in work in between and actually enjoy it, you will lead a happier life and be more at peace. 

You won’t just live for the fleeting moment in which you achieve your goal and until you set sight onto your next aim. Instead, you’ll live for the process, as well.

4. Some of your dreams might break, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on a bright future

“Don’t confuse a broken dream with a broken future.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

Sometimes, we build this elaborate mental construct of our ideal life around this one dream scenario. 

The longer you have this picture of your future, and the more you want it, the more it’s going to hurt when that bubble pops.

Teh sudden realization that this dream isn’t feasible can be dishartening and depressing. 

It might take you a while to get over your loss of perspective for your future. 

However, you should always remember that a future equally as good or even better is waiting for you to claim it. 

Often enough, we end up idolizing our dream life without realizing that the actual day-to-day routine wouldn’t be ideal for us at all. 

Luckily, there is always another, if not better, dream waiting for you. 

5. Stop planning your happiness and start feeling it now

“You cannot save up your happiness; you can either feel it in the moment, or you miss it. It’s that simple.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

Anyone who is more prone to overthinking than spontaneous actions has probably postponed their happiness at least once in their life.

This can look like forcing yourself to watch a series more slowly than you’d like because you want to have something to look forward to in the next few days. 

Or perhabs you have this really deliciously scented candle, and you want to save it for a ‘special occasion, but then it just ends up lying around for years instead of providing you joy now.

Trying to plan our happiness can rob us of the very thing we are trying to secure. 

For example, often enough, the excitement of the series or with the candle might fade, and you don’t enjoy it later on as much as you would have now. 

Or you even forget about it entirely. 

There will be plenty of reasons for you to feel happy in the future. 

Don’t act as if your happiness is a limited resource that carefully needs to be distributed across time. 

Be happy now, first and foremost!

6. You should be living life and not just think about it

“Make sure you’re living more than you’re thinking about living.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

It is easy to fall into the habit of overanalyzing your life, especially as an introverted overthinker interested in personal development. 

As such, we have to put a conscious effort into actually living life. 

Stop creating all those Pinterest boards full of cute aesthetic cafés and instead take your laptop or book and spontaneously spend a few hours in one.

Stop planning out the perfect business idea in little detail and just start working on something. 

And please stop obsessing over whether or not you’re ‘behind in life.’ Instead, take one step forward in a direction that’ll make you feel less behind.

You won’t remember all the things you’ve contemplated in life. What you will remember and be remembered for are the things you did. So start doing them!

7. Be careful to imagine your life as a synopsis

“You have to stop living for how other people will remember you. Stop living by telling yourself the story that you think other people will be happy reading.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

This book made me aware that I am guilty of viewing my life from the outside and as a synopsis. 

Do you envy the impressive CV of successful people?

Do you imagine what your CV will look like one of these days?

And have you ever imagined how other people will introduce you?

If you do, you are also having a synopsis-like view of your life.

You can keep imagining your life’s synopsis if it motivates you but redirects your focus on your life from your own perspective if you get increasingly disappointed.

8. Your fear is not only a warning but also a guiding sign

“Not wanting to do something would make you feel indifferent about it. Fear = interest.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“The presence of indifference is a sign you’re on the wrong path. Fear means you’re trying to move toward something you love, but your old beliefs, or unhealed experiences, are getting in the way.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

Not every fear is a sign of danger. More often than not, fear is a sign that you are interested in something that lies outside your comfort zone. 

To step outside your comfort zone, you might have overcome limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging habits or simply push yourself through it.

If you do that, you will experience immense growth, and your momentum will make it easier for you to follow other interests that have been appearing as fears.

9. Don’t let your past self dictate how you live your life today

“You owe nothing to your younger self. You are not responsible for being the person you once thought you’d be.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

“There is no way you will be able to predict or plan what will be happening in 5 years from now. If you can predict and plan for that, dream bigger. Try harder.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

My younger self of five years ago would have never been able to predict the kind of person I am today with all my interests and passions. 

I’m sure to at very least a small extent, it’s the same for you. 

So why would we think we can make a 5-year plan for our life that is guaranteed to make us happy? 

You might dedicate your entire high school life to getting the grades necessary formed or law school because you’ve set it into your head that this is your dream career. 

Does that guarantee you will like the college courses or the actual career? No!

So don’t force yourself to finish a 5- or even 10-year plan just because you are already a few years into it if you honestly hate it.

There is a fine line between stubborn persistence and foolish stubbornness; be careful what side you’re on.  

10. Embrace your embarrassing past

“You’re supposed to be embarrassed of your younger self—really. It’s a mark of progress.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

Many people cringe when they see pictures of or hear stories about their younger selves. 

They obsess over how they could have done better and why they did this or that. 

But the thing is, back then, it was most likely the best you had to offer. 

The fact that you could do so much better nowadays should make you proud of how much you’ve grown. 

Focus on that instead of on the embarrassing thing nobody, but you obsesses over.

11. The things you love and hate about others tell you a lot about yourself

“You love in others what you love in yourself. You hate in others what you cannot see in yourself.” – Brianna Wiest (101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think)

If you have a very strong reaction to people who interrupt others, perhaps that’s because you refuse to admit to yourself that you are prone to interrupting others as well. 

If you absolutely hate women caked full of makeup, perhaps that’s because you don’t want to admit to yourself that you’d like to be able to make up as expertly as them (though not necessarily as much of it as them).

After all, if you don’t care about it, you would feel indifferent towards it.

Take your strong emotions as cues to find out more about you and heal your hate by finally admitting to yourself the things you’ve been keeping suppressed.

Comment down below on your favorite lesson from the book. 

Until next time!

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101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

• 4.4 • 552 Ratings

Publisher Description

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, the global bestseller and social media phenomenon, is a collection of author Brianna Wiest's most beloved pieces of writing. Her meditations include why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: this idea changed my life.

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

Brianna Wiest was just 24 when 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think was published, proving that wisdom doesn’t only come with age. Wiest’s endgame is happiness. To get you there, she tackles big questions in the vein of “What’s the meaning of life?”—but she discusses them with a light touch, in relatable, everyday language. (In other words, you don’t need a philosophy degree to read this!) One recurring idea that really resonates is Wiest’s reframing of the past not as a fixed, unchangeable reality, but as an ever-shifting variety of experiences and memories. She explains how this helps us stop seeing painful or traumatic events in our lives as impediments to our current happiness. Wiest makes the path to enlightenment easier by breaking down her advice into bite-size bullet points that are as wise as they are Instagram-ready. If you’re inspired by the work of Brené Brown and Don Miguel Ruiz, Brianna Wiest might just become your new favorite self-help author. 

Customer Reviews

I think you should read it..

I think is such a good book and it did teach me a lot in many aspects of my life, I’m grateful to find it and read it. The only thing I don’t like its when in the book they expand a subject that could have finished really quickly

One of the best books I have ever read..

Truly an amazing, insightful read. I will say along with all the hard work I’ve done on myself as far as growing and healing goes, this book has changed my life and definitely for the better. Highly recommended this book to everyone no matter what stage of life you are in.

A nice think piece.

Saw the comments on this book and was unsure if would buy it. I sampled the first chapter or 2 and found myself interested in reading more. I throughly enjoyed it and will recommend it to my friends.

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101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Paperback – Oct. 1 2016

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• Print length 448 pages
• Language English
• Publication date Oct. 1 2016
• Dimensions 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• ISBN-10 1945796065
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thought Catalog Books (Oct. 1 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1945796065
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1945796067
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 630 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• #11 in Personal Transformation (Books)
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About the author

Brianna wiest.

Brianna Wiest is the international bestselling author of 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, The Mountain Is You, This Is How You Heal, two poetry collections and more. Her books have sold 1M+ copies, regularly appear on global bestseller lists, and are currently being translated into 20+ languages worldwide.

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101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Paperback – 7 Nov. 2018

Purchase options and add-ons

• Print length 448 pages
• Language English
• Publication date 7 Nov. 2018
• Dimensions 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• ISBN-10 1945796065
• ISBN-13 978-1945796067
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thought Catalog Books (7 Nov. 2018)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1945796065
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1945796067
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• 29 in Medical Sciences A-Z
• 63 in Religion & Spirituality (Books)
• 91 in Psychology & Psychiatry

About the author

Brianna wiest.

Brianna Wiest is the international bestselling author of 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, The Mountain Is You, This Is How You Heal, two poetry collections and more. Her books have sold 1M+ copies, regularly appear on global bestseller lists, and are currently being translated into 20+ languages worldwide.

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101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

By: Brianna Wiest

• Narrated by: Abby Craden
• Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 (1,964 ratings)

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Why have history's greatest minds - from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson along with today's top performers, from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities - embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise. The Daily Stoic offers a daily devotional of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations.

Not well made as audio

• By Andreas on 12-27-16

By: Ryan Holiday , and others

Good Vibes, Good Life

• How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness

By: Vex King

• Narrated by: Kaushal
• Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,018
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 824
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 821

Join the self-love revolution with Instagram visionary Vex King. This audiobook features inspirational messages and universal wisdom to help you manifest positive vibes.

Insipid. Absolutely rehashed

• By Ljw on 04-22-21

Think Again

• The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

By: Adam Grant

• Narrated by: Adam Grant
• Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 11,375
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 9,592
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 9,495

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn.

Only Good if you've never questioned anything.

• By Victor Alvia on 02-10-21

The Untethered Soul

• The Journey Beyond Yourself

By: Michael A. Singer

• Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
• Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 30,031
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 25,166
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 25,007

Spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer explores the question of human identity and shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and achieve happiness and self-realization.

• By Lea Zimmerman on 12-16-11

Atlas of the Heart

• Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

By: Brené Brown

• Narrated by: Brené Brown
• Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 16,668
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 14,365
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 14,172

In Atlas of the Heart , Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

• By Mandy on 02-16-22

How to Talk to Anyone

• 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

By: Leil Lowndes

• Narrated by: Joyce Bean, Leil Lowndes
• Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 12,675
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,673
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 10,602

What is that magic quality that makes some people instantly loved and respected? Everyone wants to be their friend (or, if single, their lover!) In business, they rise swiftly to the top of the corporate ladder. What is their "Midas touch?"

Good info, but painful to listen to

• By Scott on 09-19-16

Ego Is the Enemy

By: Ryan Holiday

• Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
• Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 12,951
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,981
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,902

"While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their images with sheer, almost irrational force, I've found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition." (From the prologue)

Disappointing. Thin, weak reading.

• By Robert on 09-08-16

Publisher's summary

Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life.

Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: This idea changed my life.

• Unabridged Audiobook
• Categories: Health & Wellness

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• Narrated by: Emily Durante
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• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 58
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 50
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Sometimes the one thing you need to make a change is to see things from a fresh perspective. Discover 21 innovative emotional explorations to boldly confront the habits that are holding you back in this breakthrough guide that provides the tools you need to fearlessly embrace your innermost desires.

"Love yourself," "be present," and esoteric nonsense

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The Self-Love Experiment

• Fifteen Principles for Becoming More Kind, Compassionate, and Accepting of Yourself
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• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 339
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 288
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Put a stop to self-sabotage and overcome your fears so that you can gain the confidence you need to reach your goals and become your own best friend. Too many people seem to believe that they are not allowed to put themselves first or go after their own dreams out of fear of being selfish or sacrificing others' needs. The Self-Love Experiment rectifies this problem. Whether you want to achieve weight loss, land your dream job, find your soul mate, or get out of debt, it all comes back to self-love and accepting yourself first.

Not for me.

• By Crippledhobo on 06-24-18

The Emotional Edge

• Discover Your Inner Age, Ignite Your Hidden Strengths, and Reroute Misdirected Fear to Live Your Fullest

By: Crystal Andrus Morissette

• Narrated by: Andi Arndt
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• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 23
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 19
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 18

The Emotional Edge is an exciting expansion of Crystal's successful brand - she has tackled weight management, confidence building, and spiritual growth; now she combines all that and more into her most powerful program yet. The Emotional Edge is a guide for letting go of the past and embracing a more empowered future. This audiobook is spiritual self-help designed to teach listeners how to overcome behavioral ruts and engage the world from a happier, more empowered place.

the world needs more of this.

• By Amber Jessop on 11-25-17

Love Lost, Love Found

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• Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 78
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Blindsided by a breakup, and asking herself the usual why, how, what questions, Tatiana Jerome went online. She used social media as a way to uplift and empower herself by venting but also working through her own part in the relationship's demise. Her posts struck a chord with thousands and then hundreds of thousands of readers - no surprise since most relationships (approximately 85 percent) end.

• By Ms. Keisha on 11-13-17

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• Narrated by: John Gray
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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 56
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Here's the audiobook to help you get what you want, and be happy with what you have. John Gray, the man responsible for helping millions of people improve their relationships in his bestselling Mars and Venus books, has written the essential guide to personal success.

Didn't Get What I Wanted

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• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 351
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Most of us believe that our happiness depends on the outside world - and that by solving our problems, improving our relationships, or achieving success, we will find contentment. In You Can Be Happy No Matter What, Dr. Richard Carlson shows that happiness has nothing to do with forces beyond our control. His simple and practical guide teaches 5 principles for discovering a new mode of living that doesn't repress natural emotions, yet where feelings and thoughts don't overwhelm us.

• 4 out of 5 stars

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• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 58
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The inner critic is the voice inside our heads reminding us that we are never "good enough". It's behind the insidious thoughts that can make us second-guess our every action and doubt our own value. The inner critic might feel overpowering, but it can be managed effectively. Meditation teacher and therapist Mark Coleman helps listeners understand and free themselves from the inner critic using the tools of mindfulness and compassion.

Life changing!

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Join best-selling author and Functional Life Coach Mastin Kipp as he guides you on a 40-day journey, inspired by Joseph Campbell's model of the hero's journey, to identify and dissolve whatever's holding you back, break free from trauma and victimhood, and transform your life. Not only will you change your life for the better, but, in doing so, you'll improve the lives of the people you love.

Amazing Transformation

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• Narrated by: Drew Canole
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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 61
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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You Be You is designed to empower you to seek more, be more, and do more - from a place of self-love first and foremost. Loving yourself is not selfish; it’s necessary. In this audiobook, transformation specialist Drew Canole shows that no matter where you’ve been or where you are right now, there are tools you can implement to live fully, healthily, and happily.

Good stuff...

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• Narrated by: Fred Stella
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• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 170
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 141
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 140

Despite our best-laid plans, life can often be difficult, disappointing, and stressful. Consequently, when things don’t go right, we are often left in a state of emotional chaos, dealing with feelings like anger, anxiety, frustration, and doubt, which can cloud our perspective and negatively affect the way we live our lives. But in this inspiring book, Phillip Moffitt shows us that we need not be at the mercy of our emotions. By cultivating a responsive mind rather than a reactive one, we can achieve a state of emotional clarity.

You Are Not Your Emotions

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• Original Recording
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 5,313
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 4,212
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 4,211

In Money, and the Law of Attraction , Esther and Jerry Hicks present the teachings of the Non-Physical consciousness Abraham. The concepts offered here relate to the topic of abundance and prosperity. They will show you that you truly need to think about what you want in your life and not what you don't want. If you put your attention on thoughts of not having enough money, you are in the perfect position for the creating of more of that which you do not have.

Abrahams Best Work Ever!!!

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By: Esther Hicks , and others

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Why would you settle for an ordinary life when you have an extraordinary mind? Break your good life into six bite-size pieces so you can live a successful life without regret.

Wonderful life changing

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Are you trying to better understand Stoic philosophy but having a hard time analyzing the texts of the ancients? Have you ever thought about why you haven’t been able to achieve your personal goals? If you answered "Yes" to any of those questions, then Stoicism is the right guide for you. In this audiobook, you will learn about the art of Stoicism and how it can help you achieve your goals in life.

Best Book!!

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,554
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,971
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,949

This leading-edge program by Esther and Jerry Hicks, who present the teachings of the non-physical entity Abraham, will help you understand the emotions that you've been experiencing all of your life. Instead of the out-of-control, knee-jerk reactions that most people have to their ever-changing life experience, this work will put those responses into a broader context. You'll come to understand what emotions are, what each of them means, and how to effectively utilize your new awareness of them.

Something old, something new

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If the Buddha Got Stuck

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• Narrated by: Renée Raudman
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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 80
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Charlotte Kasl's perennial favorites If the Buddha Dated and If the Buddha Married have inspired readers with their empowering blend of spiritual and psychological insights. Her third "If the Buddha" book, If the Buddha Got Stuck , is a wise yet lighthearted book that will speak to anyone who's ever experienced being stuck in life and wanted to break free.

i like the author's blend of spirituality

• By dayle on 01-09-12

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In Bad Advice , relationship expert Dr. Venus Nicolino - aka Dr. V - takes a blowtorch to the shrink-wrapped “feel good” BS that passes for self-help these days. Smart and irreverent, Dr. V fuses the brains and insight of a nerdy PhD with the heart of a doting Italian mother and the artful profanity of a Philly trucker. Dr. V’s signature combination of humor, hard science, and heart make Bad Advice an iconoclastic course correction like no other. Bad Advice is a fiercely sharp wake-up call that tackles some of self-help’s most damaging truisms.

Not my cup of tea.

• By ocean22 on 05-18-19

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 191
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 171
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In his best-selling books and hugely popular "Notes from the Universe" daily emails, Mike Dooley teaches that the first step in changing our lives is to understand the nature of our very presence here on earth - the truth about who we are, how we got here, and the power we wield. Ultimately, Mike teaches: we are divine, eternal creators for whom all things are possible, here by choice, and we shape all of our life's experiences through the focus of our thoughts, our words, and the actions we take.

Awesome and Life Changing

• By melody on 01-08-17

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Great reminders

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This is the story of becoming, the process of actualization that we all go through, especially when we are most unaware that it's happening. Written with striking familiarity and uncanny understanding, this audiobook will open your heart and touch your soul by putting into words the things that are both deeply rooted and hidden in us that we miss them even when they are most transparent.

Sharp tool!

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Life is an uncertain morphing of the beautiful and devastating, the reckless and ordained, the inconsequential and cataclysmal. Brianna Wiest writes about her own experiences and truths of life as they pertain to the greater universe in this first compilation of her work. The selected pieces are ones to turn to when you are in need of answers, comfort and a little tough love now and again. Brianna provides a place of solace and understanding while still perpetuating her beliefs as they pertain to the reality of our individual journeys.

Would not recommend

• By Amazon Customer on 12-01-17

The Art of War

By: Sun Tzu

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 40,276
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The 13 chapters of The Art of War , each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.

The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary

• By Fred271 on 12-31-19

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 31,387
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 25,638
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Think and Grow Rich is the number-one inspirational and motivational classic for individuals who are interested in furthering their lives and reaching their goals by learning from important figures in history. The text read in this audiobook is the original 1937 edition written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie - and while it has often been reproduced, no updated version has ever been able to compete with the original.

Classic Book, 21st Century Version Better

• By Razvan Rogoz on 12-29-12

Unf--k Your Brain

By: Faith G. Harper PhD LPC-S ACS ACN

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Our brains do their best to help us out, but every so often they can be real assholes - having meltdowns, getting addicted to things, or shutting down completely at the worst possible moments. Your brain knows it's not good to do these things, but it can't help it sometimes - especially if it's obsessing about trauma it can't overcome. That's where this life-changing book comes in. With humor, patience, science, and lots of good-ole swearing, Dr. Faith explains what's going on in your skull, and talks you through the process of retraining your brain to respond appropriately....

Untuck this recording quality

• By Martin J. Fogarty on 07-25-18

The 6 Habits of Growth

By: Brendon Burchard

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• Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
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The world’s leading high-performance coach and multiple New York Times best-selling author Brendon Burchard delivers the six habits of personal growth that will help you create the life of your dreams. Forged from Brendon Burchard’s personal experiences, data from his GrowthDay app, and his many years as a high-performance coach, The 6 Habits of Growth presents the tools you need to construct the life of your dreams. 

Don’t bother

• By B. Sharpe on 10-30-22

Sound Therapy: Motivation (963Hz)

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Revered for stimulating the pineal gland, this frequency enhances mental clarity and promotes a positive energy flow; transforming negative thoughts and balancing emotions, essential for facing daily challenges with equanimity.

Cool way to start the day.

• By Juan Angel on 01-22-24

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The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

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The world moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to. In this best-selling mindfulness guide - it has sold more than three million copies in Korea, where it was a number-one best-seller for 41 weeks and received multiple best book of the year awards - Haemin Sunim (which means "spontaneous wisdom"), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the United States, illuminates a path to inner peace and balance amid the overwhelming demands of everyday life.

Peace After Thinking And Feeling Too Much?

• By Gillian on 08-24-17

By: Haemin Sunim , and others

• Lass los und finde zu dir selbst
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Schmerzhafte Ereignisse in unserem Leben können uns dauerhaft aus der Bahn werfen. Brianna Wiest zeigt in ihrem neuen Buch, wie wir uns selbst heilen können. Heilung bedeutet, den Schmerz zuzulassen und wirklich hinzusehen. Heilung bedeutet, sich auf eine Reise zu begeben, denn egal ob körperlich oder spirituell, sie verläuft weder linear noch nahtlos. Heilung bedeutet Verletzlichkeit. Heilung bedeutet, weiterzumachen, mit verwundetem, aber offenem Herzen.

48 Laws of Power

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 23,764
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Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

You don't have to be a psychopath to like this.

• By Gaggleframpf on 02-25-16

The Art of Seduction

• An Indispensible Primer on the Ultimate Form of Power
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• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 5,043
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Synthesizing the work of thinkers including Freud, Diderot, Nietzsche, and Einstein, delineating the enticing strategies of characters throughout history, The Art of Seduction is a comprehensive guide to getting what we want - any way we can. Controversial but never dull, timeless and up-to-date, it's destined to be Greene's next best seller.

VERY abridged

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Healing Through Breathing

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Learn four simple, slow breathing techniques to calm your emotions and leave you stress-free. In addition, these forms of breathing will improve cardiovascular health and your sleep and will also reduce inflammation. Breathing expert Eddie Stern guides you through these practices and also explains exactly how and why they work. These techniques are also a boon to mindfulness and meditation. So tune in, relax, and get ready to take some deep, life-changing breaths through Eddie Stern’s excellent coaching.

Breath is life!

• By Marie on 01-21-24

Powerful Listening: How to Harness Your Most Essential Skill

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Often in difficult conversations, be it a negotiation at work or an important talk with a family member, we’re eager to find the right words to change someone’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. But the most successful conversations and negotiations don’t come from how well you speak. They come from how well you listen. Listening is the most essential skill of any conversation, and it’s fast becoming a lost art. But Kwame Christian, recognized as one of the world’s top negotiation experts, believes that anyone with an interest in learning can master the power of effective listening.

I'm Writing This Review To Shout Out My Team!

• By Kwame Christian on 01-04-24

By: Kwame Christian , and others

The Compound Effect

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The Compound Effect contains the essence of what every super achiever needs to know, practice, and master to obtain extraordinary success. Inside you will hear strategies on how to win-every time; eradicating the bad habits that are derailing your progress; painlessly installing the few key disciplines required for major breakthroughs; the real, lasting keys to gaining and sustaining motivation; capturing the elusive, awesome force of momentum; and the acceleration secrets of superachievers.

Remedial Read: Level 4th or 5th

• By Edward Muisenga Jr. on 11-19-19

What listeners say about 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 out of 5.0
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• 4 Stars 198
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• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 1,283
• 4 Stars 173
• 5 Stars 1,206
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Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

• Laura K. Alvarado Fonseca

Finding ways on being a better version of yourself

Why am I giving it 5 out of 5 even when I agree with some ideas repeat during the book? Two main reasons. One, if an important concept or idea repeats, it can only help to fully grasp its importance and meaning or to revisit the concept from a different perspective. Two, the book is long and I personally could do without some parts, but it is a compilation. I might not be interested in some chapters, just as other people might not be interested in the ones I liked most. The importance relies on that the sum of it all makes it whole; and it's a compilation! As previously mentioned, 101 ESSAYS that will CHANGE the way YOU THINK by Brianna Wiest is a compilation of her previously published philosophical essays. It's about: the importance of slowing down and being in the moment; fear and stepping into the unknown; happiness, passion, and purpose; identity; having choices; suffering and letting go; courage and hope. What I got from listening to this book? Invaluable insights to apply to my every day, helping me be more aware, purposeful, and happy. What else could I ask for? From the book, ideas I want to keep: * Live in the moment. Where are we rushing to? Death? * Routines are fundamental! * Problems are pathways. Taking action shapes who we are. * Being uncomfortable is good! Sit down with it and explore. * "Life doesn't get easier, you get smarter." * Find balance in the three kinds of happiness: pleasure, grace, and excellence. * In order to build resilience, one must listen to the positive and the negative. * It's neither about passion nor motivation but purpose. * "Kindness is the factory of love." * You can have everything, just not simultaneously. * Success is not a result, but fully being aware and growing from the process of getting there. * You don't need to understand everything or have every answer because even if you try, you will never do. My favorite quotes are: * "Accomplishing goals is not success, how much you expand in the process is." * "Suffering is just the refusal to accept what is." * "Pleasures will never make you whole." * "The world is not as it is but as we are." * "You think that being uncomfortable and fearful means you shouldn't do something. Being uncomfortable and fearful means you definitely should." * "You have everything just not at the same time." (quoting Oprah) * "The only way you grow is by stepping into the unknown." * "The good teaches you well, but the bad teaches you better." * "You can choose what you want to suffer for." * "Success is falling in love with the process, not the outcome." * "The problem is not pain but the inability to find its purpose." * "Suffering begins to thrive when we don't listen to it." * "You don't need to have every answer nor will you ever have every answer." I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take the time to look deeper within themselves, to those open to ideas, and who will take the time it takes to not only learn but understand a concept before moving on. Note: I listened to the audiobook. The number of the chapter being read does not correspond to the chapter displayed on the Audible app. For example, if you are listening to chapter 12, the audio says it's chapter 11.

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236 people found this helpful

• Overall 1 out of 5 stars

• Dee Ann Dodson

Not for audio listening

Good book, but not a good listen type book. This book needs to be absorbed only in print.

77 people found this helpful

• Performance 4 out of 5 stars
• Story 3 out of 5 stars

• Joey Caster

Excellent book. Too much cussing

This was an excellent book. I enjoyed the format and it has a lot of great subjects to think about. I wish I could recommend this book to my family but I can’t because she added SO MUCH unnecessary and out of place four letter words and G.D. Cussing. It was so off pudding and unnecessary. I don’t understand why she decided to do that.

49 people found this helpful

• Overall 3 out of 5 stars

A bunch of lists???

This book started out really good and I did enjoy large chunks of it. It definitely has great insights and it gets you thinking and analyzing yourself and your life. What I didn’t like about it was that so many chapters were just lists. Not even with any commentary or analysis, just lists of things to think about. That part got old because it doesn’t follow a thought and get deep. After a while it just feels like endless lists of reasons/questions/thought-provoking statements.

42 people found this helpful

• Performance 1 out of 5 stars
• Story 2 out of 5 stars

• Valerie Pierre

could be better

good material but way too brief and very repetitive. she could have elaborated more on important points instead of repeating the same thing multiple times.

32 people found this helpful

• Story 1 out of 5 stars

• Amazon Customer

lists of lists of lists

lists of lists of lists. too many. maybe reading on paper is more tolerable for this book.

28 people found this helpful

A different perspective

Absolutely love this book. I have the audiobook, kindle, and hard copy. This has changed me and given me a different perspective. This book has helped me evaluate and really think and get to root cause of why I think the way I do. This book is worth every word. I was legit sad when it ended, I love her wisdom and the insight she provides.

19 people found this helpful

• Overall 2 out of 5 stars

• Makayla Samaras

It's like reading an Instagram post... or Buzzfeed

These aren't 'essays' so much as they are lists. The entirety of this book is made of bulleted lists and simply phrased paragraphs. It is essentially an influencers inspirational Instagram posts all compiled into one misleading book. It felt as though the intended audience was a Buzzfeed article at best... and at worst, a motivational poster. I really wanted to like this book, truly. I was excited for it, but listening to it was like having my teeth pulled. It was so repetitive and unrealistic. The narrator did a great job with these listacles though!

16 people found this helpful

She plants seeds that blossom into fruitful thoughts

I enjoyed Brianna’s fresh take on many areas in life; excellent for late night work sessions or road trips. Deep thinking and common sense beautifully crafted into a book.

10 people found this helpful

Did Not Enjoy It

It was just not what I expected. Found the book boring and choppy. Did not inspire me in anyway.

8 people found this helpful

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101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Paperback – 9 September 2021

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• Print length 448 pages
• Language English
• Publication date 9 September 2021
• Dimensions 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• ISBN-10 1945796065
• ISBN-13 978-1945796067
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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ POD DROPSHIP BRAND CODE (9 September 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1945796065
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1945796067
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 630 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.57 x 21.59 cm
• #124,300 in Analysis & Strategy

About the author

Brianna wiest.

Brianna Wiest is the international bestselling author of 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, The Mountain Is You, This Is How You Heal, two poetry collections and more. Her books have sold 1M+ copies, regularly appear on global bestseller lists, and are currently being translated into 20+ languages worldwide.

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101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

52 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Essay 20

Essays 21-40

Essays 41-60

Essays 61-80

Essays 81-101

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Brianna Wiest

Brianna Wiest (born 1992) is an online essayist, motivational writer, and poet. She studied professional writing at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, graduating in 2013, and was the editor of the student newspaper there. Initially, her degree was intended to lead to a career in the publishing industry. The viral success of her online publications during and after her studies led instead to a writing career. Her publications center around popular psychology, mindfulness , relationships, reflection, and self-improvement. After 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think was published as a collection of online essays in 2016, she has written other self-help content as books, including The Mountain Is You (2020) and The Pivot Year . Her books have sold over one million copies worldwide.

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101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Summary

Transformative insights for a new perspective, brianna wiest, the power of your subconscious mind, joseph murphy, how to read a book, mortimer j. adler, secrets of the millionaire mind, t. harv eker, the 5 am club, robin sharma, many lives, many masters, brian l. weiss.

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Author Interviews

Don winslow ends trilogy, and his writing career, with final novel 'city in ruins'.

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks to best-selling suspense author Don Winslow about what he says is his final novel, "City in Ruins."

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Danny Ryan, who's been a Rhode Island mobster, dockworker and fugitive from the law, is now a pillar of the community in Las Vegas. He's got a palatial home to which good citizens come to pay homage and enjoy his hospitality, his young son he loves and the companionship - well, three times a week, anyway - of an accomplished and compelling woman he respects. What could possibly go wrong? "City In Ruins" is the third and final novel in the bestselling Danny Ryan trilogy by Don Winslow. It follows "City On Fire" and "City Of Dreams," and Don Winslow says quite explicitly, "City Of Ruins" is my final book - no loopholes I could detect. He joins us now from Julian, Calif. Thanks so much for being with us.

DON WINSLOW: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SIMON: The book opens with an implosion, a famous old Las Vegas hotel, now owned by Danny Ryan, being brought down from the inside. Is implosion a kind of theme for Danny Ryan's life, too?

WINSLOW: Yeah, it sure is. Looking over the arc of these three books, I think we're looking at a certain kind of self-destruction with dynamite, if you will, or explosives that were laid many years earlier on a long fuse, to torture the metaphor, and so implosion's definitely a theme.

SIMON: In earlier books, Danny had used what I'll just refer to as ill-gotten gains from a criminal enterprise to buy his way into a respectable hotel and gaming enterprise. He's got a dream. In fact, a hotel - I guess it's called the Dream in Italian.

WINSLOW: It is. Yeah, Il Sogno.

SIMON: Tell us about this place he wants to bring into being.

WINSLOW: Well, he wants to bring into being a new kind of megahotel where people walk in and it's literally a dream with images shifting constantly on the walls of beauty and action and all kinds of things. And I think it's reflective of his own dream of trying to create a new kind of life for himself and for his son.

SIMON: What stands in the way?

WINSLOW: Well, a number of things. For one thing, this valuable piece of real estate that this old hotel sat on is critical to power on the Las Vegas Strip. And he basically undermines a rival in order to acquire it. And then it turns out that both Danny and this rival have mob ties from the past that each of them is trying to escape and trying to leave behind him, and neither one of them can. And so those things really get in the way of Danny's dream.

SIMON: You've written so many other books over the years, including "Savages," "The Force," "The Cartel," bestsellers made into screen properties. What's kept you coming back to Danny Ryan?

WINSLOW: You know, it took me almost 30 years to complete this trilogy. You know, it's funny. You look back on your life. When I started the Danny Ryan books, my now-adult and married son was a toddler. What I was - set out to do was to write a fully contemporary crime epic that took its stories and characters, however, from the Greek and Roman classics, principally the Aeneid, but also the Odyssey and the Iliad and certain Greek tragic dramas. I kept failing at it. I would write some of the book, and some of it worked, and a lot of it didn't. And so at times, I was discouraged, thinking that either, A, it was a bad idea, or, B, it was a good idea and I didn't have the chops to carry it out. But I kept coming back to it 'cause I couldn't leave it behind. And then later on, a couple of decades down the road - you know, I live mostly in California - I started to go back to Rhode Island, where a lot of the first book is set, and I fell in love with the place again, and I felt that I could write it, perhaps in a better and more mature way than I could have done 20 years earlier.

SIMON: Did you feel a kinship with Danny?

WINSLOW: I think so. You know, I grew up with a lot of Danny'. I played pond hockey with them. I went to the beaches with them, you know, to the bars and restaurants and all kinds of things. So it's funny how little self-awareness you can have. The second volume of this book, "City Of Dreams," is basically Danny wandering the country trying to find a place to set his feet. I was deep into writing the third book before I looked back on the second book and realized how connected I was to Danny in that regard. You know, I left Rhode Island when I was 17 and spent decades wandering not only the country but the world, doing various kinds of jobs trying to make a living, trying without a notable degree of success to become a writer and finally kind of made that happen and found a place, if you will, to set my feet.

SIMON: You mentioned all the jobs you had. You were a private eye in Times Square.

WINSLOW: Yes, sir.

SIMON: Is that as exciting as it sounds, or is it a lot of keyhole peeping?

WINSLOW: (Laughter) Not too much keyhole peeping, thank God. You know, I didn't do what they call matrimonial work. But, no, it was not romantic at all. I was basically what is known as a street rat. And so I started that by investigating embezzlement and thefts in cinemas and legit movie theaters on Times Square - there were a few in those days - and then graduated, if you want to call it that, to being a troll. I would walk around Times Square trying to get mugged, and there were big tough guys, which I am not, behind me jumping in like riders at the rodeo and then eventually chasing runaways and trying to get to them before the pimps did.

SIMON: By the way, not that I'm interested in doing this, how do you arrange to get mugged?

WINSLOW: (Laughter) Well, for one thing, you arrange to be 5'6 and 130 pounds. That helps. And then you walk around looking like you don't know where you're going, like you're a tourist, with a wallet prominently in your back pants pocket.

SIMON: Wow. Sounds like it was indispensable to your literature.

WINSLOW: In some ways. You know, I mean, I think that being a PI, and then later I did it out in California, out here, on a much higher kind of level. But it got me in that world. I got to know cops and crooks and street people and lawyers and judges and courtrooms and all of that. But I think the most important influence it had on my work was in terms of investigation itself. I learned how to do research. I learned how to interview people. And the same skills that I would have used as an investigator are the skills that I brought to researching the novels.

SIMON: All of this steers us to asking about your goodbye. The acknowledgments you write include hundreds of people, parents...

WINSLOW: Yes.

SIMON: ...readers, old teachers...

WINSLOW: Sure.

SIMON: ...Even your agent.

WINSLOW: Especially my agent. Yeah.

SIMON: And as you say, goodbyes are hard. So why are you retiring?

WINSLOW: It's the confluence of two streams, if you will. One is that having finished this trilogy felt like an ending to me. It felt like, yeah, kind of my life's work. The second, though, major stream, and probably more important one, is that I just think that we're at a time in this country of crisis and a time where democracy is under a severe threat. And I think that the response to that needs to be more immediate than one can do in a novel, you know? You know, I'm not young. I'm 70. And I think whatever energies and time I have are better spent in that fight.

SIMON: Don Winslow, his new and insists his last novel, "City In Ruins." Thanks so much for being with us, and thanks for everything.

WINSLOW: Thank you very much. That's gracious of you to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CASCADE")

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10 books to add to your reading list in April

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Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your April reading list.

April’s book releases cover some difficult topics, including Salman Rushdie discussing his 2022 maiming, Leigh Bardugo’s fiction about the dark arts and Ada Limón’s poetry anthology about our fragile world. However, like April, there is also sunshine: Leif Enger’s wild Great Lakes love story, Helen Tworkov’s beautiful memoir of Buddhism and a collection of the inimitable Maggie Nelson’s essays. Happy reading, happy spring!

I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel By Leif Enger Grove Press: 336 pages, $28 (April 2)

An unusual and meaningful surprise awaits readers of Enger’s latest, which takes place largely on Lake Superior, as a man named Rainy tries to reunite with his beloved wife, Lark. While the world around this couple, a dystopian near-future American where billionaires control everything, could not be bleaker, the author’s retelling of the myth of Orpheus (who went to the underworld to rescue his wife) contains the authentic hope of a born optimist.

The Familiar: A Novel By Leigh Bardugo Flatiron Books: 400 pages, $30 (April 9)

Bardugo departs from novels of dark academia in a standalone to make the hairs on your neck stand up, set in 16th century Spain. A hidden Sephardic Jew and scullery maid named Luzia Cotado matches wits with fellow servant Guillén Santángel. Luzia discovers a secret of Guillén’s, but she’s already fallen in love with him. And because he knows hers, too, they might both avoid the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a gorgeous tale of enchantments both supernatural and earthly.

The Sleepwalkers: A Novel By Scarlett Thomas Simon & Schuster: 304 pages, $28 (April 9)

A couple honeymoons at a Greek resort. What could go wrong? In Thomas’ hands, plenty – especially as the author has never written a comfortable story; her books, from “PopCo ” to “Oligarchy,” crackle with unreliable characters, as well as big philosophical ideas. In this case, the new marriage’s breakdown is chronicled through letters between the spouses, and sometimes bits of ephemera, that ultimately untangle a dark mystery relating to the title.

The Garden: A Novel By Clare Beams Doubleday: 304 pages, $28 (April 10)

Few novels of literary fiction are written as well as “The Garden,” let alone given its sadly relevant retro setting, a 1940s country-estate obstetrical program. Irene Willard walks through its gates having endured five miscarriages; pregnant again, she and her war-veteran husband George desperately hope for a live birth. But as Irene discovers more about the woman who controls all here, Dr. Bishop, she fears carrying to term as much as she once feared pregnancy loss.

Reboot: A Novel By Justin Taylor Pantheon: 304 pages, $28 (April 23)

David Crader, former teen TV heartthrob, just wants to reboot his career when his old show “Rev Beach” has a moment. His life has devolved through substance abuse, divorce and underemployment. But when he and colleagues launch a remake, devolution continues: The protagonist’s struggles are mirrored by climate-change issues, from flooding to wildfires. Despite that darkness, Taylor’s gift for satire might make this a must-read for 2024 beach bags.

You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World By Ada Limón (Editor) Milkweed Editions: 176 pages, $25 (April 2)

A wondrous artist herself, Limón is currently poet laureate of the United States, and this anthology is part of her signature project, “You Are Here,” which will also feature poetry as public art in seven national parks. Released in conjunction with the Library of Congress, the collection features 50 previously unpublished poems by luminaries including Jericho Brown, Joy Harjo, Carl Phillips and Diane Seuss, each focusing on a piece of regional landscape.

Like Love: Essays and Conversations By Maggie Nelson Graywolf Press: 336 pages, $32 (April 2)

While all of the pieces in Nelson’s new book have previously been published elsewhere, they’re made fresh here both through being collected and through their chronological placement. Readers can practically watch Nelson’s incisive mind growing and changing as she speaks with colleagues such as Hilton Als and Judith Butler, or as she writes about queerness, motherhood, violence, the lyrics of Prince and the devastating loss of a friend.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder By Salman Rushdie Random House: 204 pages, $28 (April 16)

On Aug. 12, 2022, the author Salman Rushdie was speaking at upstate New York’s Chautauqua festival when a man rushed the stage and attempted to murder him. Rushdie, a target of Iranian religious leaders since 1989, was permanently injured. In this book, he shares his experience for the first time, having said that this was essential for him to write. In this way, he answers violence with art, once again reminding us all that freedom of expression must be protected.

Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America By Helen Tworkov St. Martin’s Essentials: 336 pages, $29 (April 16)

Dworkov, founder of the magazine Tricycle, chronicles her move from a 1960s young-adult interest in Buddhism to travels through Asia and deep study in the United States of the different strands that follow the Buddha’s teachings. Tworkov mentions luminaries such as the artist Richard Serra, the composer Charles Mingus and the Dalai Lama, but she’s not name dropping. Instead, she’s strewing fragrant petals from her singular path to mindfulness that may help us find ours.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War By Erik Larson Crown: 592 pages, $35 (April 30)

Even diehard Civil War aficionados will learn from Larson’s look at the six months between Lincoln’s 1860 election and the surrender of Union troops under Maj. Robert Anderson at Charleston’s Ft. Sumter. Larson details Anderson’s secret Christmas redeployment and explores this individual’s contradictions as a former slave owner who loyally follows Lincoln’s orders. The author also shares first-person perspective from the famous diaries of the upper-class Southerner Mary Chesnut. All together, the book provides a riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult.

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ChatGPT 3.5 Review: First Doesn't Mean Best

While ChatGPT 3.5 isn't as robust as 4.0, nor does it generate images, for most inquiries it gets the job done. Just be sure to double-check.

Our Experts

CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.

ChatGPT 3.5

• Decent accuracy
• Prone to hallucinate on more complex queries
• Poor job of citing sources
• Leaves it up to user to cross-reference Google

Basic info :

• Price: Free
• Availability: Web or mobile app
• Features: Voice recognition
• Image generation: No

ChatGPT is mind-blowing, but not without faults. When OpenAI's chatbot stormed onto the internet in late 2022, it dazzled with its ability to answer seemingly any question with a unique answer. 

This type of power, being able to ask open-ended questions and get back useful answers, is not how traditional internet search works. Putting questions into Google yields links to various articles and Reddit threads with people giving their research and opinions. It's up to you, the end user, to absorb all that information and synthesize a conclusion in your head. 

ChatGPT does that synthesis for you. It truly does feel like a calculator, but not for numbers, instead, for the wealth of human knowledge found online. 

There are different tiers to ChatGPT. The one available for free, version 3.5, uses 175 billion parameters. Think of parameters as the number of pieces of information. The more parameters a model has, the better it can understand language and produce nuanced sentences. While that certainly is a lot, it pales in comparison to ChatGPT 4.0, which reportedly has 1 trillion parameters , but costs money based on the number of inputs and outputs. For this review, I tested the free version.

How CNET tests AI chatbots

CNET takes a practical approach to reviewing AI chatbots. Our goal is to determine how good it is relative to the competition and which purposes it serves best. To do that, we give the AI prompts based on real-world use cases, such as finding and modifying recipes, researching travel or writing emails. We score the chatbots on a 10-point scale that considers factors such as accuracy, creativity of responses, number of hallucinations and response speed. See our page on  how we test AI  for more.

When using ChatGPT, keep in mind that the service automatically collects the information you put into its system, so be mindful of giving the service any personal information. For more information, see OpenAI's  privacy policy .

It's hard to recommend ChatGPT 3.5 as a shopping aid. Because its training data is only up until September 2021 , it lacks information about newly released products. It's hard to ask it to make comparisons on the latest TVs and cars if ChatGPT 3.5 has nothing to work with. 

Google Gemini and Perplexity are all connected to the open internet, meaning that information on new products is present. Microsoft Copilot was recently updated to incorporate GPT-4 Turbo, a more advanced AI model from OpenAI that has training data up until April 2023 . Like Gemini and Perplexity, it too is linked to the open internet to bring in links and other more recent bits of information. Anthropic's Claude isn't connected to the open internet, but its training data goes up until August 2023, so at least it's a bit more recent. 

Searching for recipes on Google can be a slog. Finding a good recipe sometimes means having to scroll through paragraphs of needless backstory to get to the recipe itself. 

ChatGPT cuts out all that fluff and gives you a recipe, instantly, while also allowing you to add additional variables specific to your dietary needs. These types of recipes might not be as easily available via a Google search.

For example, I asked ChatGPT for a chicken tikka marinade recipe and it produced one in seconds, minus a backstory of visiting an Indian restaurant for the first time on Curry Mile in London. When I asked it to make a vegetarian version, ChatGPT remixed it instantly, swapping the chicken for paneer, an Indian cottage cheese. 

At the same time, ChatGPT 3.5's recipe generation lacked context. While ChatGPT does get straight to the point, the author of this other recipe I found pointed to the importance of using Kashmiri chili powder, kasuri methi (dried fenugreek), chaat masala, amchur (dried mango powder) and black salt. ChatGPT's version of this recipe was noticeably barebones by comparison.

When asking Gemini this same question, it was able to include ingredients like Kashmiri chili powder and amchur. I guess there's some secret sauce Google is using to get a bit more culture out of its recipe generation. In our tests, Gemini performed the best, followed by Microsoft Copilot (in creative mode), then ChatGPT 3.5, and it was a tie between Perplexity and Claude. However, no AI chatbot excelled at this test.

Research and accuracy

Research can be a slog of jumping between Google searches, research papers and public libraries. Generative AI can condense all of that hard work, absorbing the wealth of published knowledge online and helping synthesize information and giving specific answers to specific questions. 

It's also handy if generative AI can pull up the sources it's referencing. However, ChatGPT 3.5 doesn't source much at all. 

Whatever information ChatGPT dumps on your screen requires having to go to Google to actually find it and link to it, which ChatGPT makes challenging. Often, when asking ChatGPT for an exact source, it'll say that as an AI language model, it doesn't have direct access to real-time data or the ability to browse the internet. The inability to easily cross-reference sources makes the actual real-world usefulness of ChatGPT questionable. Sure, among friends, you may cite ChatGPT and get away with it. But for school or work, you'll be left scrambling on Google, potentially on a futile chase looking for a source that might not even exist.

It seems that OpenAI has tweaked ChatGPT to often not point to specific papers or sources when asked. This could have been because in the past it would make up papers that didn't exist. One user on Reddit from 10 months ago said that when asking, "Give me some papers on the relationship between homeschooling and neuroplasticity," ChatGPT would point to a paper that didn't exist. Asking that question now, ChatGPT says as an AI model, it can't browse the internet or access specific papers. However, when asking questions regarding the neurological implications of COVID-19 on health, ChatGPT immediately pointed to four sources, all of which were easily found on Google. 

It doesn't help that ChatGPT 3.5, at times, would hallucinate. Hallucinations are when an AI chatbot produces an incorrect answer but says it with confidence. It wasn't always immediately obvious and took some additional digging around on Google before I realized that ChatGPT 3.5 was making up factoids. 

This inconsistency is annoying, as it's hard to pin down why ChatGPT 3.5 bars citing some pieces of information while allowing others. 

Compared to other Chatbots, Claude performed the best at synthesizing different bits of research as well as linking to sources. Copilot, in creative mode, also performed similarly to Claude, finding the nuances in a complex topic. Google Gemini, with its access to the open internet, did a better job than ChatGPT 3.5, but hallucinated in odd ways, making up the names of studies that didn't exist. And Perplexity, while it did a decent job, worked in sources that weren't academically reliable. 

Summarizing

ChatGPT 3.5 certainly shows its limits when asked to summarize an article. I asked it to summarize an article I wrote earlier this month regarding ChatGPT's impact across the tech scene at CES 2024 . I pasted the entire article into 3.5 and the summary it yielded was lacking. It picked up the background information and mentioned the main thesis, but failed to bring the point home. It also abruptly stopped its summary, ending midway through a sentence. When I asked why it had stopped summarizing, ChatGPT 3.5 apologized and gave another summary, only to abruptly stop at the same spot. 

ChatGPT has a 4,096 character limit, according to Android Authority , meaning it can't summarize a 940-word article. Essentially, don't expect it to help you parse through large legal documents or terms of service agreements.

In comparison, Gemini has the ability to summarize articles just based on a link, but its link-based summaries were barebones and rather useless. When I pasted the whole article into Gemini, however, it actually did a better job of summarizing my article than ChatGPT 3.5.

Perplexity and Claude failed to get the full scope of my article.

Looking up travel ideas for major cities like Los Angeles or Tokyo isn't hard. The internet is packed with websites, TikToks, tweets and other options showcasing the most populous cities in the world. What about Columbus, Ohio, though? That's where an AI chatbot can come in handy, filtering through TripAdvisor, Reddit and other posts to put together a serviceable itinerary.

When I asked ChatGPT 3.5 for a three-day travel plan in Columbus, it did a surprisingly solid job of putting together packed itineraries full of activities. It recommended places to see as well as restaurants to visit. And unlike Google Gemini, all the restaurants it recommended were actually real. Why Gemini was more prone to hallucinations than ChatGPT in this test isn't clear. But it does point to how much tuning OpenAI has done to ensure information remains accurate. 

According to CNET's Bella Czajkowski , who's from Columbus, the only potential ding was that ChatGPT 3.5 recommended going to the Short North Arts District both on the first and third day. Generally, people like travel plans that don't repeat locations. 

Perplexity made vague recommendations whereas Claude performed well, but had one error. Gemini hallucinated the most, making up the names of restaurants that didn't exist.

Of the chatbots, Copilot performed the best, making a clean and organized list of activities, all bullet-pointed, along with pictures and emojis. 

Writing emails

ChatGPT does well in writing basic emails. From finding an excuse for not turning in your homework on time to an apology for missing an event, ChatGPT returns results that read believable, if not always genuine. When asking it to generate an email asking your boss for time off, ChatGPT 3.5 does default to overly formal-sounding language, but asking it to lighten up the language does create something more passable. Still, it'll require some tweaking to sound believably human. Even when asked to dilute some of the formality, it can still come across as robotic. So, ChatGPT will certainly give a solid template, but will require some editing to make it sound real. 

Comparatively, Gemini wrote emails well and was easy to tune to make it sound more casual and humanlike. Perplexity performed well at writing basic emails, but faltered on more complex topics, often coming off as robotic. Claude performed the best, crafting sentences with great nuance and believability. Copilot had no problems writing basic emails, but it refused to answer prompts about more controversial topics.

ChatGPT 3.5 is fine for most people, but there are better options

For most basic queries and even a few more complex ones, ChatGPT 3.5 will get the job done for most people. The answers it yields are serviceable, and often with a bit of tweaking, is still a lot less work than writing things yourself. 

That's not to say that ChatGPT 3.5 should be used as an end-all solution. It's a tool that, when used in conjunction with Google and other resources, can help cut time down on research and discovery. Still, to get the most out of it, questions have to be worded in a manner that can get AI chatbots to respond most accurately. This is referred to as prompt engineering, a subspecialty that may become a necessary skill as AI chatbots permeate throughout the tech we use. 

While ChatGPT 3.5 is user-friendly enough so that most people can still find value in it, it's best to keep your guard up and not to take ChatGPT's answers as absolute. It's always best to do a bit of fact checking, which means that Google will still be your web browser's homepage for the time being. 

It raises the question: Why use ChatGPT 3.5 when you can use Microsoft Copilot, which uses GPT-4 Turbo, for free? Given that GPT-4 Turbo reportedly uses over 1 trillion parameters , which are values that make an AI model more accurate, and is connected to the internet, there really isn't any reason to download the ChatGPT app. 

Given its drawbacks, it's hard to recommend ChatGPT 3.5 over Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude, despite how revolutionary it was back in November 2022. 

Editor's note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create a handful of stories. Reviews of AI products like this, just like CNET's other hands-on reviews , are written by our human team of in-house experts. For more, see CNET's AI policy and how we test AI .

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Guest Essay

A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture

By Erik Hoel

Mr. Hoel is a neuroscientist and novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.

Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.

Adjectives associated with A.I.-generated text have increased in peer reviews of scientific papers about A.I.

Frequency of adjectives per one million words

Commendable

A study published this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress — across a number of high-profile and prestigious scientific conferences studying A.I. At one such conference, those peer reviews used the word “meticulous” more than 34 times as often as reviews did the previous year. Use of “commendable” was around 10 times as frequent, and “intricate,” 11 times. Other major conferences showed similar patterns.

Such phrasings are, of course, some of the favorite buzzwords of modern large language models like ChatGPT. In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. — or, at minimum, writing them with lots of A.I. assistance. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. usage was found in them.

If this makes you uncomfortable — especially given A.I.’s current unreliability — or if you think that maybe it shouldn’t be A.I.s reviewing science but the scientists themselves, those feelings highlight the paradox at the core of this technology: It’s unclear what the ethical line is between scam and regular usage. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?).

What about when A.I. is used in one of its intended ways — to assist with writing? Recently, there was an uproar when it became obvious that simple searches of scientific databases returned phrases like “As an A.I. language model” in places where authors relying on A.I. had forgotten to cover their tracks. If the same authors had simply deleted those accidental watermarks, would their use of A.I. to write their papers have been fine?

What’s going on in science is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Post on social media? Any viral post on X now almost certainly includes A.I.-generated replies, from summaries of the original post to reactions written in ChatGPT’s bland Wikipedia-voice, all to farm for follows. Instagram is filling up with A.I.-generated models, Spotify with A.I.-generated songs. Publish a book? Soon after, on Amazon there will often appear A.I.-generated “workbooks” for sale that supposedly accompany your book (which are incorrect in their content; I know because this happened to me). Top Google search results are now often A.I.-generated images or articles. Major media outlets like Sports Illustrated have been creating A.I.-generated articles attributed to equally fake author profiles. Marketers who sell search engine optimization methods openly brag about using A.I. to create thousands of spammed articles to steal traffic from competitors.

Then there is the growing use of generative A.I. to scale the creation of cheap synthetic videos for children on YouTube. Some example outputs are Lovecraftian horrors, like music videos about parrots in which the birds have eyes within eyes, beaks within beaks, morphing unfathomably while singing in an artificial voice, “The parrot in the tree says hello, hello!” The narratives make no sense, characters appear and disappear randomly, and basic facts like the names of shapes are wrong. After I identified a number of such suspicious channels on my newsletter, The Intrinsic Perspective, Wired found evidence of generative A.I. use in the production pipelines of some accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers.

As a neuroscientist, this worries me. Isn’t it possible that human culture contains within it cognitive micronutrients — things like cohesive sentences, narrations and character continuity — that developing brains need? Einstein supposedly said : “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what happens when a toddler is consuming mostly A.I.-generated dream-slop? We find ourselves in the midst of a vast developmental experiment.

There’s so much synthetic garbage on the internet now that A.I. companies and researchers are themselves worried, not about the health of the culture, but about what’s going to happen with their models. As A.I. capabilities ramped up in 2022, I wrote on the risk of culture’s becoming so inundated with A.I. creations that when future A.I.s are trained, the previous A.I. output will leak into the training set, leading to a future of copies of copies of copies, as content became ever more stereotyped and predictable. In 2023 researchers introduced a technical term for how this risk affected A.I. training: model collapse . In a way, we and these companies are in the same boat, paddling through the same sludge streaming into our cultural ocean.

With that unpleasant analogy in mind, it’s worth looking to what is arguably the clearest historical analogy for our current situation: the environmental movement and climate change. For just as companies and individuals were driven to pollute by the inexorable economics of it, so, too, is A.I.’s cultural pollution driven by a rational decision to fill the internet’s voracious appetite for content as cheaply as possible. While environmental problems are nowhere near solved, there has been undeniable progress that has kept our cities mostly free of smog and our lakes mostly free of sewage. How?

Before any specific policy solution was the acknowledgment that environmental pollution was a problem in need of outside legislation. Influential to this view was a perspective developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a biologist and ecologist. Dr. Hardin emphasized that the problem of pollution was driven by people acting in their own interest, and that therefore “we are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest,’ so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free-enterprisers.” He summed up the problem as a “tragedy of the commons.” This framing was instrumental for the environmental movement, which would come to rely on government regulation to do what companies alone could or would not.

Once again we find ourselves enacting a tragedy of the commons: short-term economic self-interest encourages using cheap A.I. content to maximize clicks and views, which in turn pollutes our culture and even weakens our grasp on reality. And so far, major A.I. companies are refusing to pursue advanced ways to identify A.I.’s handiwork — which they could do by adding subtle statistical patterns hidden in word use or in the pixels of images.

A common justification for inaction is that human editors can always fiddle around with whatever patterns are used if they know enough. Yet many of the issues we’re experiencing are not caused by motivated and technically skilled malicious actors; they’re caused mostly by regular users’ not adhering to a line of ethical use so fine as to be nigh nonexistent. Most would be uninterested in advanced countermeasures to statistical patterns enforced into outputs that should, ideally, mark them as A.I.-generated.

That’s why the independent researchers were able to detect A.I. outputs in the peer review system with surprisingly high accuracy: They actually tried. Similarly, right now teachers across the nation have created home-brewed output-side detection methods , like adding hidden requests for patterns of word use to essay prompts that appear only when copied and pasted.

In particular, A.I. companies appear opposed to any patterns baked into their output that can improve A.I.-detection efforts to reasonable levels, perhaps because they fear that enforcing such patterns might interfere with the model’s performance by constraining its outputs too much — although there is no current evidence this is a risk. Despite public pledges to develop more advanced watermarking, it’s increasingly clear that the companies are dragging their feet because it goes against the A.I. industry’s bottom line to have detectable products.

To deal with this corporate refusal to act we need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to legislatively force advanced watermarking intrinsic to generated outputs, like patterns not easily removable. Just as the 20th century required extensive interventions to protect the shared environment, the 21st century is going to require extensive interventions to protect a different, but equally critical, common resource, one we haven’t noticed up until now since it was never under threat: our shared human culture.

Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, a novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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More From Forbes

How To Start Writing A Business Plan That Works

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For the entrepreneur, knowing how to start writing a business plan can be as exhilarating as it is overwhelming. The business plan is a foundational document and the blueprint of your business and is critical for securing funding, setting clear goals, and communicating your vision to the world.

Let’s explore the significance of a business plan, the essential elements it should include, and strategies to forge a plan that resonates with stakeholders and steers your business toward success.

Whether you are about to launch your first business or need to revitalize an existing business strategy, a business plan provides the foundation that supports your entrepreneurial journey.

Why a Business Plan Is Needed

A business plan is not solely for the benefit of a bank manager or an investor . The business plan is a document that helps bring clarity to your vision and can guide every decision and strategy within your company.

A well written business plan forces you to put your goals and ideas into concrete, manageable steps. It cuts through the noise, ensuring you stay focused on what truly matters for your business’s growth.

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For startups looking to secure that critical initial investment, a business plan is often the first point of reference for potential backers. It’s a chance to sell your vision, show your financial acumen, and demonstrate a roadmap to profit.

Identifying potential pitfalls early is a vital aspect of proactive business ownership. A good business plan helps you prepare for the unexpected and develop strategies to mitigate risk and safeguard the longevity of your business.

Setting clear, measurable goals in your business plan provides a framework for tracking your progress. This will give you the insight needed to pivot or double down on strategies as the market dictates.

Creating Your Story

Before you start drafting sections and compiling data, step back and consider the story of your business. Your plan should be like a good book, with a clear narrative arc that compels the reader from the first sentence to the last.

Any good story is rooted in an understanding of the world it inhabits. Your business's narrative begins with a comprehensive analysis of the industry in which you operate, as well as the consumers you aim to serve.

Think about how you define your unique selling proposition (USP) . What sets your business apart from competitors? All good stories have a unique twist, and your business plan should articulate what makes your venture different from, and better than, the competition.

Introduce your team into the story. Highlight their expertise, experience, and any relevant achievements that lend credibility to the business’s ability to execute on its vision.

Writing Your Business Plan Is Just the Beginning

A business plan can span from a quick roadmap sketched on the back of a napkin to a hefty document carefully crafted to align with industry standards. Regardless of size, it should contain certain fundamental elements .

The act of writing a business plan, while pivotal, is just the first step in an ongoing process of refinement and execution.

Here’s how to make sure your business plan is a living document:

1. Regular reviews and updates

Markets shift, consumer behavior changes, and your business will grow. Your plan must evolve with these factors, which makes regular reviews and updates a must-do.

2. Be realistic

It’s essential to be both ambitious and realistic in your plan. Don’t over-inflate projections or underestimate costs. An unrealistic plan is as unattractive to investors as a lack of vision and ambition.

3. Seek professional input

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Experienced business advisors, accountants, and mentors can provide invaluable feedback and spot issues you may have missed.

4. Start small

Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Write down your initial thoughts, outline your ideas, and refine them over time. Starting with a large plan can be intimidating but working on it gradually can be a more manageable and effective approach.

The bottom line is that writing a business plan can feel overwhelming, but with the right approach and attention to detail, you can create a document that not only articulates your vision but actively works to make that vision a reality. It’s a living, breathing narrative that outlines your business’s course of action, and should be treated with care and enthusiasm.

Melissa Houston, CPA is the author of Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Profitable Business . She is the founder of She Means Profit, which is a podcast and blog . As a Finance Strategist for small business owners, Melissa helps successful business owners increase their profit margins so that they keep more money in their pocket and increase their net worth.

The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace any professional or expert accounting and/or tax advice whatsoever.

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