OPTIMISM

This guide explains the benefits of having an optimistic mindset and offers strategies for fostering one.

Roland opens by sharing the story of Gabrielle Thomas, the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics 200-meter women’s gold medalist, who repeatedly envisioned herself winning and entered the race already believing she was a champion. He explores some key elements of an optimistic mindset: hope, confidence, realism, gratitude, resilience, acceptance, and empathy. The book references well-known people who overcame tremendous obstacles, such as Helen Keller and Oprah Winfrey, in order to demonstrate the power of resilience, acceptance, and self-belief. Expert insights—from psychologists, therapists, social workers, and business professors—reinforce the advantages of being optimistic, from improved mental and physical health to increased longevity. The book then shifts to the causes and dangers of negativity—catastrophizing, rumination, and negative self-talk. Fortunately, Roland adds nuance, for example by including a short overview of the risks of toxic positivity and emphasizing the protective properties of self-doubt, which can help us avoid “reckless or dangerous” behavior. While this work is packed with valuable information, its sometimes-repetitious content makes it better suited for piecemeal browsing than reading cover to cover; similarly worded descriptions of the benefits of practicing gratitude and mindfulness appear in two different chapters. The recitation of academic studies and plethora of quotations undercut the readability and compelling message.

Persuasively highlights optimism’s power but is weakened by dense, repetitious writing.