The Intelligent Optimist's Guide to Life: How to Find Health and Success in a World That's a Better Place Than You Think - Couverture souple

“To read this work is to cease giving credence to the whiny naysayers and instead to join the band of angels who carry a passion for the possible, advance the solutions, and engage in the creation of an emergent  positive, practical, and successful world.” 
—Jean Houston, PhD, author of The Wizard of Us

“More and more research confirms that optimism is a critical ingredient of longevity and a healthy lifestyle. Jurriaan Kamp’s book shows how you can improve your health through optimism.”
—Andrew Weil, MD

“Every person in the world wants the same thing—to lead a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. Yet most of us feel that ultimate goal is determined by external factors. In this fact-based, simple, and pragmatic book, Jurriaan Kamp shifts all the power into our own hands by illustrating that our view of the world around us is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
—Bert Jacobs, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Optimist of The Life is good Company

“Optimism is both the precondition and the precursor for individuals and organizations in making meaningful change, and Jurriaan Kamp does a wonderful job of reminding us just how powerful it can be.”
—Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market

“This book is like a good companion: it cheers you up.”
—Ben Knapen, former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands

“An inspired and inspiring guide to living with optimism in a world that is increasingly jaded and pessimistic—uplifting, rousing, and challenging us to dream the world into being in a positive and creative manner.”
—Alberto Villoldo, bestselling author of Shaman, Healer, Sage

“Optimism is a mindset, a lens through which to look at the world around us. It takes this mindset to be able to adapt to the changes that technology and climate change will bring our way. More importantly, this mindset also will give us the resolve to not just let change happen; we are the masters of our destiny and can shape a better world for all.”
—Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

“Thoughtfulness and inspiration are two ingredients that are mixed into a perspective that helps us look at the world as an optimist. There are many ways to journey through life, but the goal surely must be to live well. A good read and one you will want to pass on!”
—Arkadi Kuhlmann, founder and CEO, ZenBanx 

“The world is full of opportunities for anyone wishing to see them. Media blur that vision and feed pessimism and depression. Optimism is in short supply. That should change and this book points the way.”
—John Mackey, founder and Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market


“There’s no problem in this world without a potential solution. What’s too often lacking is the strategy to find these new solutions. That strategy is optimism—the desire to find the solution wherever it might be. It’s the vital force for innovation in business and society. This is your handbook to create and contribute your solutions. Read and implement it!”
—Rinaldo Brutoco, entrepreneur and Founding President, World Business Academy 

“This is a thought provoking, challenging and inspirational book. Jurriaan Kamp’s unique way of looking at how we filter, use, and approach news and information is well worth considering. He is on a both a mission to help us all realign our thinking. Do yourself a favor and take the time to read and absorb, The Intelligent Optimist’s Guide to Life.”
—Robert J. Rosenthal, Executive Director, The Center for Investigative Reporting

The world isn’t coming to an end, contrary to what you may have heard, says Jurriaan Kamp. Certainly there’s upheaval and economic, political, and social instability, but the media’s near-exclusive focus on conflict and disaster means that the progress and everyday acts of brilliance taking place across the globe go unnoticed, which contributes to the sense that apocalypse is at hand.

And pessimism can be fatal: Kamp cites research showing that those who indulge in negative thinking are more likely to smoke, be overweight, and have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease than optimists. Meanwhile, evidence abounds that optimism—intelligent optimism, not a rose-colored-glasses brand of wishful thinking—is good not only for your mind but for your body, too.

Kamp demonstrates that, on the whole, we’re living longer, becoming smarter, working less, and growing richer. Democracy is on the rise, and violence is declining. He explains how we can cultivate an outlook of informed optimism that will make our lives and the world better—because, as he quotes Helen Keller, “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.”