Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self [Paperback]

Rosalene Glickman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0471414646 | ISBN-13: 978-0471414643 | Edition: 1

"The quantum leap beyond positive thinking, Optimal Thinking offers a whole new way of looking at life, business, and relationships. This prescriptive self-improvement book is filled with superlative information for every type of reader."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Optimal Thinking has a little bit for everyone and will help people be the best self they can be." —Ken Blanchard, Ph.D.,author of The One Minute Manager

"This powerful, practical, most inspiring book gives you the ideas and tools you need to become an optimally productive and powerful person in every area of your life." —Brian Tracy, author of Focal Point

"To fast create an optimal life, lifestyle, and future, read, digest, and use Optimal Thinking." —Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator, New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul

"Optimal Thinking beautifully convinces and illustrates why 'the enemy of the best is the good.' Insightfully, it blends and synthesizes idealistic and realistic thinking, left- and right-brain cognition, analysis and creative intuition, acceptance and optimism. A superb treatment of the idea of Personal Best." —Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

From the Publisher

"Optimal Thinking has a little bit for everyone and will help people be the best self they can be." —Ken Blanchard, Ph.D.,author of The One Minute Manager

"This powerful, practical, most inspiring book gives you the ideas and tools you need to become an optimally productive and powerful person in every area of your life." —Brian Tracy, author of Focal Point

"To fast create an optimal life, lifestyle, and future, read, digest, and use Optimal Thinking." —Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator, New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul

"Optimal Thinking beautifully convinces and illustrates why 'the enemy of the best is the good.' Insightfully, it blends and synthesizes idealistic and realistic thinking, left- and right-brain cognition, analysis and creative intuition, acceptance and optimism. A superb treatment of the idea of Personal Best." —Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471414646
• ISBN-13: 978-0471414643
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thought leader, Rosalene Glickman, Ph.D. is the creator and best-selling author of Optimal Thinking, hailed by academia and the media as "the successor to positive thinking" and "the essential ingredient for best practices in personal, interpersonal, and organizational optimization."

Dr. Glickman is President of The World Academy of Personal Development Inc., a Century City, Los Angeles training and consulting firm. She served as the Director of Professional Development for The American Society for Training & Development in Los Angeles, and is a distinguished expert witness in cognitive analysis and leadership development.

Since 1980, Rosalene has provided executive and life coaching, business consulting and training for individuals and organizations including Warner Bros., Johnson & Johnson, U.S. Army, Young Presidents' Organization, BP, California State University, Fullerton (School of Business Administration), National Australia Bank, Internal Revenue Service, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Century 21 Real Estate, The Australian Institute of Management, Mensa, and Air New Zealand.

Dr. Glickman is the recipient of the "Woman of the Year" award for National Business Women's Week in Hollywood. She has been nominated for special recognition by Queen Elizabeth II for Australia's highest award, The Order of Australia.

This Optimal Thinking woman is a seasoned print and electronic media interviewee. She has been featured on Bloomberg TV, Fox News Channel, CBS Weekend Magazine, New York Times, Association Management Magazine, Government Executive Magazine, Inc magazine, Business Review Weekly, Australian Business Magazine, The Australian, The Age, Personal Success Magazine, Successful Selling and Managing Magazine, Woman's World Magazine, L.A. Weekly, and the list goes on.

Dr. Glickman, who was born in Australia, lives in Los Angeles. She began her career as a high school Physics and Chemistry teacher, and later became Chair of the Science Department. She has earned a Ph.D. in Psychology, a Teaching diploma and a degree in Business Administration.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

410 of 427 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Stop Settling For Second Best!, April 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self (Paperback)

I have been an avid reader of self-improvement books for the past twenty years but I always felt that something was missing until I read Optimal Thinking. This book is revolutionary. It takes you above the flawed "think positive" mindset into a simple, realistic style of thinking that provides you with the best chance of achieving everything you need and want. I was fascinated by the examples of how people make the most of everyday situations with Optimal Thinking.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section, "Help Yourself to Optimal Thinking" begins with a quiz to rate how much of your thinking is in your best interest. You then learn about the advantages and disadvantages of negative and positive thinking. The author explains five shortcomings of positive thinking, and shows you how to overcome them. She then describes Optimal Thinking, provides examples of Optimal Thinkers who have shaped the world throughout history, and offers simple roadmaps to make the best choice in simple and complex situations. You then learn how to use Optimal Thinking consistently to design and live your best life. I was excited by this section. I really resonated with the information on the core beliefs which sabotage our best interests and motivate us to settle for second best, especially "I don't deserve the best in life". I made it my business to do the exercise to overcome this culprit.

The second section, "Optimize Yourself" begins with a quiz to examine whether your self-esteem, purpose and goals support your best interests. You learn to recognize and embrace your suboptimal inner voices and optimize them. This is what loving yourself is all about. You also take an inventory of your assets and liabilities and determine which actions will be most effective in optimizing your self-esteem. You then visualize your best self, define your ultimate purpose and create your best roadmap to achieve your supreme goals.

My favorite chapter in the second section is "Optimize Your Feelings." Disturbing emotions are called "optimization signals" and you are given an incredibly simple roadmap to understand and master them. You are also provided with optimal questions to understand and resolve unpleasant emotions such as helplessness, anxiety, anger, guilt, loneliness, hurt, grief, and envy. I have to admit that since I have been using these optimal questions, I don't need anyone to help me sort out my feelings. I am comfortable and confident that I can take the best possible care of myself.

The third section, "Optimize Others" begins with a quiz to determine where your personal and business relationships support your best interests. The author states that "The purpose of relationships is simply to be your best self, regardless of the circumstances." You explore your obstacles to optimal communication, and how to make best use of non-verbal and verbal signals to overcome these obstacles. My favorite roadmap here is about setting boundaries and minimizing unwanted behaviors.

The last chapter describes an optimal paradigm for the workplace. The positive thinking paradigm is compared with the optimal paridigm, and is obviously suboptimal. You just can't walk away from adopting this realistic optimal paradigm. You realize that you can't function at your peak when you think suboptimally, and every time you think suboptimally you compromise productivity, profitability and your well-being. And you can only bring out the best from others, when you use Optimal Thinking.

What I like most about this book is that suboptimal thinking readers, authors and enthusiasts are always respected by this author, who recognizes all forms of thinking (even negative thinking) as valuable feedback. Dr. Glickman believes that it is unrealistic to expect to think optimally all of the time but it is in our best interest to think optimally as often as possible.

This book is for business and community leaders, coaches, executives, students, homemakers and anyone who wants to live their best life. Do not miss one page of this book!

153 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is your thinking in your best interest?, November 21, 2003

By 

Bradley Krantz (Davenport, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self (Paperback)

My wife brought this book home after participating in an Optimal Thinking seminar at her company. Although I was somewhat skeptical, I tried to approach the book with an open mind. I admit that I was interested in finding out how much of my thinking was in my best interest so I responded to that quiz. When I read the part about the strengths and weaknesses of positive and negative thinking, I got hooked and pulled out my highlighter pen. Up until then, like most people, I had been confused about when to be positive, negative or neutral.

During the following week, I tested the templates for simple and complex decision-making and they worked. I made the right choices integrating my heart and my mind for the first time. All that said, this book won me over. Optimal Thinking is a must read if you want to make the most of your personal life and career. Making the most of life means something different to each of us. Optimal Thinking is the vehicle that takes you from a bad, neutral, mediocre or an extraordinarily positive moment to your best moment. From one best moment, Optimal Thinking takes you to the next best moment, and to a life of increasingly more best moments. I am a doer and can feel guilty when I am not productive. I laughed and heaved a sigh of relief when the author said, "If your response to `What's in my best interest?' is `Take a nap,' then do it. You can choose to snooze knowing that it is in your best interest."

This book is easy to read. You will find roadmaps for making the most of a range of situations, instances where people like yourself use Optimal Thinking in day-to-day situations, as well as examples of famous Optimal Thinkers who sculpt their lives with Optimal Thinking as their motivating philosophy, and inspire it in others. Buy it and get copies for the people you care about.

142 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Optimal Thinking works for everyone, November 18, 2003

By 

"lawrence_j_kingston" (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self (Paperback)

I discovered Optimal Thinking in 1992 when I heard Dr. Glickman address an audience of more than 1000 people at The International Conference on Thinking as the plenary speaker. I was deeply impacted by her presentation and invited her to present an Optimal Thinking seminar to a cross section of employees at my company four months later.

Optimal Thinking is a universal resource that embraces all forms of thinking, all people and all situations. On a daily basis, I have seen what it has done for my secretary, Sandy, whose husband passed away due to a brain tumor. Sandy used Optimal Thinking through their worst days together, always doing her best, no matter how hard it got. She uses Optimal Thinking in the office to guide her decisions, and I can rely on her to make the most of whatever crosses her desk.

As for me, although I am analytical by nature, I used to make irrational, costly decisions when I became emotional. I have learned to stop and use Optimal Thinking to find the best solution rather than dig myself into a hole.

Pre-optimization in our company, our sales force consisted of senior sales people and newcomers, some jaded, some fresh and realistic, others who were generally optimistic. When I introduced Optimal Thinking into the sales force, we saw an 18% increase in gross sales within six months, which is unprecedented in our industry. Our sales force is now a bonded Optimal Thinking team. They collaborate to define and achieve optimal results, and they are realistic in their appraisals of resources and opportunities.

When this book became available, we purchased copies for all our employees. We optimized our mission statement by including our policy of "working together as a team of optimizers with the best interest of our customers in mind and heart."

I recommend Optimal Thinking to anyone who wants to make the most of themselves, and bring out the best in others. Optimal Thinking is superlative but simple. The challenge is to use it consistently. This revolutionary book describes Optimal Thinking, explains how to use it proactively, and in conjunction with all forms of thinking. It contains specific roadmaps and concrete examples to make the most of ourselves, day to day situations, feelings, communications with others, and leadership skills. Optimal Thinking earns five stars!