From Chapter 10 “Optimism/Enthusiasm” in Ingredients of Outliers. Brother Act It’s one thing to use the power of optimism to dramatically improve one’s health, as Norman Cousins did. It’s quite another to use it as the foundation on which to build a $100 million company. Meet Bert and John Jacobs, CEO and CCO, respectively, of New England-based Life is good, Inc. But don’t let those initials fool you; they’re not what you’d expect. Bert, the older by four years, is the company’s Chief Executive Optimist and John is the Chief Creative Optimist. The story begins in … [Read more...]
The Books You Read
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. The Books You Read Reading is another great way to continue the learning process. Back in Chapter 6, I introduced you to the late, great motivational speaker, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones. In addition to his speaking career, Jones was the CEO of Executive Books, a company he founded in 1966. Books were his passion and everywhere he went he’d proclaim: “You’re the same today as you’ll be five years from now except for two things, the people you meet and the books you read.” Over the years, his company, recently renamed … [Read more...]