Writing a book has always been a goal of mine. I didn’t necessarily decide one day that I wanted to write a book, but it was more of a feeling, a knowing – I felt that someday my experiences would help others as they go through similar situations. I don’t recall when this feeling first surfaced, but if I had to guess, I would say probably in my early thirties. That feeling has stayed with me, and I’ve never brushed it off as a pipe dream or fantasy; I knew it would happen someday. When and about what were the only unknowns.

I’ve had a file on my computer named ‘book’ for many years where I would keep different things I had written over the years, not necessarily written to be used as part of a book but written for other purposes. I would go through those files every once in a while, but they were random, and nothing made sense to come together as a book. Nonetheless, I was never discouraged and knew that someday, something would spark.

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." – Winston Churchill

When faced with a problem, an optimist starts figuring out ways to solve it or turn the experience into a positive one. A pessimist, however, will grumble and moan about whatever they see as wrong with the given situation.

According to the world's foremost expert on optimism, Dr. Martin Seligman, everyone is born optimistic. And yet, 95% of adults are pessimists, not optimists. What goes wrong? Some people see the glass as half empty. Others see it as half full.

Your mindset is the biggest influence on your viewpoint. If you are determined to make something happen, changes are more likely it will. Likewise, if you tell yourself you can't, I promise you, you won't!