Optimal: How to Sustain Personal Excellence Every Day

Daniel Goleman introduced the concept of emotional intelligence to the world in 1995, and the twenty-five years that followed showed, in thousands of studies, that the qualities he identified — self-awareness, empathy, motivation, social skill — predict success more reliably than IQ in almost every domain of human activity. Optimal, his latest book, asks a different question: not what emotional intelligence is, but how to apply it to sustain excellent performance day after day, not as an occasional achievement but as a consistent way of working and living.

Drawing on the latest neuroscience and on decades of research into peak performance in business, sport, and creative work, Goleman identifies the mental state he calls ‘optimal’ — engaged, focused, energised, and in complete command of one’s emotional resources — and provides practical guidance for reaching it and returning to it when it is lost.

Essential reading for anyone serious about sustained high performance — the definitive follow-up to one of the most influential books of the last thirty years. Published by Penguin.