The Optimist’s Handbook

Miserable world. Miserable life. Switch on the TV. It’s all doom and gloom. Newspapers are crammed with depressing stories… but is the situation really that bad?

Nick Inman has drawn together a collection of inspiring, thought-provoking ideas for the reader to contemplate. He argues that our world view is too often skewed towards the negative and that we should use optimism to see a more balanced picture of reality.

Optimism, he suggests, is an attitude of hopefulness. It leads to progress and problem-solving. It is the quality of the activist, the campaigner and the world-changer. It looks towards co-operation and compromise and not confrontation.
“We don’t live in a perfect world but it’s better than we seem to think,” Nick says. “My book doesn’t ask you to believe anything – just read the facts and make up your own mind.”

Beautifully designed, The Optimist’s Handbook consists of alphabetically arranged topics, about which there is something positive to say. It offers a hard-nosed look at serious issues as well as the comical aspects of life. Read it and smile!

The Optimist’s Handbook
by Nick Inman
Website: www.harriman-house.com

Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation

Have you ever had something taken away from you only to realize how much you appreciated it after it was gone?

I often ask this question when I start one of my talks or seminars on appreciation. As I pause and wait for people to respond, many hands go up.

Most of us have taken someone or something for granted. We only truly realized how much that person or situation meant to us after the fact.

For example, at the age of twenty three my professional baseball career ended abruptly when I blew out my pitching arm. I was in my third season in the minor leagues with the Kansas City Royals, and just like that my childhood dream was over.

I realized looking back on my eighteen years in competitive baseball that I had only one major regret; I pushed myself so hard that I’d forgotten to enjoy the game. I was so focused on “making it” and on overcoming my weaknesses, I had not taken much time to appreciate what I was doing along the way.