Whether you’re deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic, but here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us--but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human. Growing out of David McRaney’s popular blog, You Are Not So Smart reveals that every decision we make, every thought we contemplate, and every emotion we feel comes with a story we tell ourselves to explain them, but often these stories aren’t true. Each short chapter--covering topics such as Learned Helplessness, Selling Out, and the Illusion of Transparency--is like a psychology course with all the boring parts taken out.Bringing together popular science and psychology with humor and wit, You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of our irrational, thoroughly human behavior.

    Others have broken rules, missed deadlines, failed to live up to commitments, or just plain behaved badly—and nobody steps up to the issue. Or they do, but do a lousy job and create a whole new set of problems. Accountability suffers and new problems spring up. New research demonstrates that these disappointments aren't just irritating, they're costly—sapping organizational performance by twenty to fifty percent and accounting for up to ninety percent of divorces.Crucial Confrontations teaches skills drawn from 10,000 hours of real-life observations to increase confidence in facing issues like:- An employee speaks to you in an insulting tone that crosses the line between sarcasm and insubordination. Now what?- Your boss just committed you to a deadline you know you can't meet—and not-so-subtly hinted he doesn't want to hear complaints about it.- Your son walks through the door sporting colorful new body art that raises your blood pressure by forty points. Speak now, pay later.- An accountant wonders how to step up to a client who is violating the law. Can you spell unemployment?- Family members fret over how to tell granddad that he should no longer drive his car. This is going to get ugly.- A nurse worries about what to say to an abusive physician. She quickly remembers "how things work around here" and decides not to say anything.Everyone knows how to run for cover, or if adequately provoked, step up to these confrontations in a way that causes a real ruckus. That we have down pat. Crucial Confrontations teaches you how to deal with violated expectations in a way that solves the problem at hand, and doesn't harm the relationship—and in fact, even strengthens it.Crucial Confrontations borrows from twenty years of research involving two groups. More than 25,000 people helped the authors identify those who were most influential during crucial confrontations. They spent 10,000 hours watching these people, documented what they saw, and then trained and tested with more than 300,000 people. Second, they measured the impact of crucial confrontations improvements on organizational and team performance—the results were immediate and sustainable: twenty to fifty percent improvements in measurable performance.

    The earlier we choosetosave(R), the sooner we can stop saving, and the later we start saving the more we need to know in order to catch up. What you need to know; where you can find the answers; how you can take action. It is all here." -Dallas Salisbury, CEO, Employee Benefit Research Institute and American Savings Education Council (www.choosetosave.org) "Bookstores are full of tomes advising people how to save for retirement, yet millions of people are still hopelessly confused about what they should do. Gail MarksJarvis breaks it down into simple steps that anyone can do to ensure a more comfortable retirement. Read this book and prosper!" -Liz Pulliam Weston, MSN Money Personal finance columnist and best-selling author of Your Credit Score "This book offers a sensible, sophisticated approach for tackling the daunting challenge of saving for retirement. The good news? You can retire-without living on canned food or buying lottery tickets-if you follow Gail's realistic strategies for saving, investing, and ultimately spending money in retirement." -Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press "You can wallpaper a warehouse with all of the awful investment advice offered up every year in newspapers, magazines, and books. One of the most difficult tasks is to separate the get-rich-quick hype from the truly worthwhile knowledge that will make you wealthy over time. I'm thrilled to say that Gail MarksJarvis has cut through the claptrap of investment cacophony and provided not only a solid plan for retirement saving, but a realistic, common-sense approach to personal finance in general. This is a triumph." -John F. Wasik, Bloomberg News personal finance columnist and author, The Merchant of Power Drawn from responses to questions from over 20,000 readers of the author's personal finance columns. Over the years, Chicago Tribune financial columnist Gail MarksJarvis has taken the time to listen and respond to thousands of her readers about the issues, questions, and concerns that are most important to them. Saving and investing for retirement has never been more important...and with this book, it's never been clearer what you need to do and how to do it. Don't wait another day! Discover...How much you'll need and how to get there...even if you've fallen behind Exactly how to set up IRAs, 401(k)s, or 403(b)s in minutes and pocket your tax money How to harness the money-making power of the stock market How to pick the right mutual funds confidently with simple strategies and specific recommendations Incredibly easy, safe investing strategies based on professional money-management techniques "Gimmick-free" investing shortcuts that won't backfire on you How to keep debt from making you poor How to get reliable help if you need it...and avoid incompetents or scam artists How the new 2006 pension laws affect you MarksJarvis eliminates the insider jargon, confusion, and math...takes the mystery out of the stock market...simplifies investing techniques...answers all your questions...clears away every obstacle in your way so you make money without taking foolish risks. She's already done it for millions, in the nation's top newspapers and most popular financial radio and TV shows. Now, she'll do it for you, too! Introduction 1 Start Investing Early, or Start Now 1 2 Know What You'll Need 9 3 Savings on Steroids: Use a 401(k) and an IRA 39 4 An IRA--Every American's Treasure Trove 59 5 IRA Decisions: How to Start, Where to Go 65 6 Why the Stock Market Isn't a Roulette Wheel 89 7 What's a Mutual Fund? 105 8 Making Sense of Wacky Mutual Fund Names 115 9 Know Your Mutual Fund Manager's Job 127 10 The Only Way that Works: Asset Allocation 151 11 Do This 163 12 How to Pick Mutual Funds: Bargain Shop 181 13 Index Funds: Get What You Pay For 189 14 Simple Does It: No-Brainer Investing with Target-Date Funds 209 15 Do You Need a Financial Adviser? 219 Index 229

    One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight- forward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.This is by far the best thing I`ve ever read about negotiation. It is equally relevant for the individual who would like to keep his friends, property, and income and the statesman who would like to keep the peace." --John Kenneth Galbraith"

    Wayne W. Dyer reveals how to change the self-defeating thinking patterns that have prevented you from living at the highest levels of success, happiness, and health. Even though you may know what to think, actually changing those thinking habits that have been with you since childhood might be somewhat challenging."If I changed, it would create family dramas . . . I’m too old or too young . . . I’m far too busy and tired . . . I can’t afford the things I truly want . . . It would be very difficult for me to do things differently . . . and I’ve always been this way . . ." may all seem to be true, but they’re in fact just excuses. So the business of modifying habituated thinking patterns really comes down to tossing out the same tired old excuses and examining your beliefs in a new and truthful light.In this groundbreaking work, Wayne presents a compendium of conscious and subconscious crutches employed by virtually everyone, along with ways to cast them aside once and for all. You’ll learn to apply specific questions to any excuse, and then proceed through the steps of a new paradigm. The old, habituated ways of thinking will melt away as you experience the absurdity of hanging on to them.You’ll ultimately realize that there are no excuses worth defending, ever, even if they’ve always been part of your life—and the joy of releasing them will resonate throughout your very being. When you eliminate the need to explain your shortcomings or failures, you’ll awaken to the life of your dreams.

    Each entry deals with one fallacy, explaining what the fallacy is, giving and analysing an example, outlining when/where/why the particular fallacy tends to occur and finally showing how you can perpetrate the fallacy on other people in order to win an argument. Originally published to great acclaim in 1985 as "The Book of Fallacy", this is a classic brought up-to-date for a whole new generation.

    Relates French grammatical terms to corresponding terms in English, covering verb conjugation, objects, modifiers, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and gender.

    People who have been ambling along and wondering if things would be better if they were just a little different. It's a book for most people. It's a book for you.Peter Jones was once a normal guy. Sometimes frustrated, often dissatisfied, but always working hard towards a ‘happily every after’ he would share with his wife Kate.But when Kate died in Peter’s arms after just 2 years and 3 months of marriage, he realised his days had been spent working towards a fantasy, instead of making every hour count. Alone, at rock bottom, Peter discovered that the secret to happiness is simple: it’s about filling your time with the things that make you happy.If you've got a brain in your head, if you can pick up a pen, if you've got half an idea about what makes you smile, this book will show you how to do that.Peter’s ideas are born from hard-won experience. Like Boxing Day: originally a day Peter and Kate spent together, without plans or restrictions, as an antidote to the chaos of Christmas. When Kate passed away, Peter continued the tradition by himself, doing whatever came to mind: it turned out to be the most refreshing, relaxing and fulfilling few hours he’d ever had. And its effects could be felt throughout the month.Practical, amusing and mumbo-jumbo-free, How To Do Everything And Be Happy does exactly what it says on the tin.

    Is it?She says she agrees. Does she?The interview went great - or did it?He said he'd never do it again. But he did.Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You'll also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you. You will discover:The ancient survival instincts that drive body languageWhy the face is the least likely place to gauge a person's true feelingsWhat thumbs, feet, and eyelids reveal about moods and motivesThe most powerful behaviors that reveal our confidence and true sentimentsSimple nonverbals that instantly establish trustSimple nonverbals that instantly communicate authorityFilled with examples from Navarro's professional experience, this definitive book offers a powerful new way to navigate your world.

    Any amount of inspirational reading will only provide us with techniques that could work if put into practice. This book explains the principles of self-talk - a unique way of reversing negativity, optimizing outlook, focusing plans and achieving success. The key is in affirming, telling yourself the right things which then reflect in a more positive lifestyle.

    America's leadership expert John C. Maxwell will teach you how to be more creative and when to question popular thinking. You'll learn how to capture the big picture while focusing your thinking. You'll find out how to tap into your creative potential, develop shared ideas, and derive lessons from the past to better understand the future. With these eleven keys to more effective thinking, you'll clearly see the path to personal success.The 11 keys to successful thinking include:Big-Picture Thinking - seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideasFocused Thinking - removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potentialCreative Thinking - thinking in unique ways and making breakthroughsShared Thinking - working with others to compound resultsReflective Thinking - looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future.

    Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language.With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

    Using translation as his lens, David Bellos shows how much we can learn about ourselves by exploring the ways we use translation, from the historical roots of written language to the stylistic choices of Ingmar Bergman, from the United Nations General Assembly to the significance of James Cameron's Avatar.Is That a Fish in Your Ear? ranges across human experience to describe why translation sits deep within us all, and why we need it in so many situations, from the spread of religion to our appreciation of literature; indeed, Bellos claims that all writers are by definition translators. Written with joie de vivre, reveling both in misunderstanding and communication, littered with wonderful asides, it promises any reader new eyes through which to understand the world. In the words of Bellos: "The practice of translation rests on two presuppositions. The first is that we are all different: we speak different tongues, and see the world in ways that are deeply influenced by the particular features of the tongue that we speak. The second is that we are all the same—that we can share the same broad and narrow kinds of feelings, information, understandings, and so forth. Without both of these suppositions, translation could not exist. Nor could anything we would like to call social life. Translation is another name for the human condition."

    Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

    Based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project, Difficult Conversations walks you through a step-by-step proven approach to having your toughest conversations with less stress and more success. You will learn: -- how to start the conversation without defensiveness-- why what is not said is as important as what is-- ways of keeping and regaining your balance in the face of attacks and accusations-- how to decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversationFilled with examples from everyday life, Difficult Conversations will help you on your job, at home, or out of the world. It is a book you will turn to again and again for advice, practical skills, and reassurance.