Sam Glenn has the kind of
rags-to-riches story that you might expect of a motivational speaker. He failed in his early jobs and a disaster
brought down the family business, which he was running. One little thing helped him persevere in
those hard days and empowered him to turn his life around. I give you one guess what it was.
It was his attitude. More to the point, it was a change in his
attitude. Instead of staying negative, pessimistic and angry, which probably
would have kept him in a bad place, he chose to be positive, optimistic and
good-humored, and this attitude help him to see opportunities and make choices
that improved his life.
Glenn writes about this in Attitude in a Nutshell. As the title suggests, it is a short
book. I suspect it draws heavily on his
presentations, especially given the informal style, generally conversational
tone, and brevity of the chapters.
The author doesn’t seem to
bring much new subject of attitude.
Don't take that as harsh criticism.
Recently published books, especially in the self-help
genre, tread much the same ground as
their predecessors from 50 or 100 years ago.
Jack
Canfield hasn’t added much to W.
Clement Stone, except shrewdness in marketing books. Stone didn’t add much to Napoleon
Hill, though he didn’t emphasize Hill’s wilder ideas. Hill had many antecedents and contemporaries
in writing about success, though the patronage of Andrew
Carnegie allowed him to take an approach that was unique for his time.
Specifically, the book
covers self-talk, humor, courage, character and a few other subjects related to
attitude. Like some other self-help
books I’ve read recently, it hangs together mainly on the topic. Other than the theme of “have a good attitude,”
there is no strong thread connecting the different parts of the book.
If he doesn’t stand out as
an author of self-help, he may make up for it as a speaker. I know someone who has seen him present. His presentation incorporates the creation of
chalk art. It sounds like a gimmick, but
a gimmick that draws an audience’s attention, enlivens a presentation, and
makes it more memorable is a worthy one.
If you’re interested in this
book, you may also be interested in
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