Flow is Overrated. Aim for Optimal Performance Instead.

Daniel Goleman shares 4 key insights from Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day

In 1995, science writer Daniel Goleman popularized the idea of emotional intelligence in a #1 bestseller with that title. More recently, he’s been studying how you can put your “EQ” to work, along with other psychological tools, to enhance your performance at the office, at the gym, and at home. His new book, co-written with organizational psychologist Cary Cherniss, is called Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day.  Daniel has been a science reporter for the New York Times, was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and received the American Psychological Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Read or listen to his big ideas below.

The Key Insights:

1. Be kind to yourself.

2. Be kind to others, too.

3. Have a great day—but not your best ever.

4. Belonging matters.

1. Be kind to yourself.

She was a nurse in a Boston hospital, working in the intensive care unit during a surge in Covid. Day after day, she was treating patients who were suffering the worst, many of whom died. Her work made her feel awful.