The Art of Being Brilliant: Transform Your Life by Doing What Works for You

by Andy Cope

A pep talk in your pocket This short, small, highly illustrated book will fill you to the brim with happiness, positivity, wellbeing and, most importantly, success! Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker are experts in the art of happiness and positive psychology and The Art of Being Brilliant is crammed full of good advice, instructive case studies, inspiring quotes, some funny stuff and important questions to make you think about your work, relationships and life.

You see being brilliant, successful and happy isn't about dramatic change, it's about finding out what really works for you and doing more of it! The authors lay down their six common-sense principles that will ensure you focus on what you're good at and become super brilliant both at work and at home.

- A richly illustrated, 2 colour, small book full of humour, inspiring quotes and solid advice

- A great read with a serious underlying message - how to foster positivity and bring about success in every aspect of your life

- Outlines six common-sense principles that will help you ensure you are the best you can be

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Psychology, Personal Development, Productivity, Business

228 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2012

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here I was scrolling through the new library offerings when I came across this book. The title got on my wrong side, not unusual when it comes to this kind of pronouncement, but seeing how short it was and given that I was feeling meah I thought I'd give it a go. The description had something about being funny, so that sealed the deal. Besides I needed a pep-talk.

I quickly warmed up to the book, as it was self-deprecating, snarky, in a way that only the Brits can be. They promised not to use fancy academic words (not that I object to them) and also to be amusing.
They delivered. It's a co-authored book, that's why I used the third person plural.

This book is about positive psychology. It makes its case pretty well. The principles are simple, common-sense, most of us already know them. Putting what you know into practice, consistently, is a struggle for many people.
There are plenty of funny, wise quotes.
There are many resources and lists.
In this case, I wish I had the print version, even though Glen McCready's narration was excellent.

[Jo Berry ☀️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty much an information vacuum. It spends too much time trying to be funny and has very little actual content. What there is to read is basic. It reads a lot like it was aimed at teenagers, and, as it turns out, there is an another version of this book called, ‘The Art of Being Brilliant for Teenagers’. One of the authors also writes children’s books, so that really is the tone here.

If I’d read this book when I was sixteen, I might have thought there was more to it. As an adult, there was nothing to get my teeth into. There were a few stories which were meant to illustrate points the author wanted to make, but they didn’t really work. I have a particular issue with the concept of ‘learned helplessness’, which in the context of abuse is just victim blaming and belongs with comments like, ‘Why didn’t you just leave?’ The short answer is: because reality is a lot more complicated than that.

You need to remind yourself that this book is written by two white, middle class, middle aged men living in the Western World - they have the freedom and opportunity to do as they please. Life seems easy when you have virtually no hurdles placed in front of you by society. This has led to a book which recommends a positive thinking attitude as the route to success, i.e. you are the only thing holding you back. However, that oversimplifies complex issues and ignores the real life problems faced by many.

[Meags · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

This is my first ever foray into the whole self-help/personal development reading craze. To be honest, it’s not a genre I have any interest in (at all), but when a reading challenge demanded that one of my yearly books be of the self-help persuasion I began meticulously searching for just the right book for me. I had a small (but surprisingly hard to achieve) checklist:

1. The book had to be of reasonable length (i.e. no longer than 300 pages, for fear of “death by boredom”).
2. I wanted something light and positive; and
3. I wanted something funny.

I’m sure this all sounds reasonable enough and I wasn’t asking too much (was I?), but God damn it was difficult to find anything that covered even one of these requirements, let alone three! I was extremely lucky to eventually stumble upon the audio edition of this book on my local libraries companion website and I’m so glad I decided to give it a whirl.

Ultimately, I loved every minute of this reading experience. I didn’t particularly have any life altering revelations while reading, but I did enjoy the way in which the very simple and very logical life improving suggestions were given to the reader in a light and humorous manner. I can’t count the number of times I laughed out loud, or the number of times I reacted to an idea or recommendation with a “that’s so true!” or “I can do that!” response.

This was an extremely positive reading experience for me and I couldn’t recommend this more (if an encouraging personal development book is what you’re after). I found this to be a truly enjoyable read and I’ve even gone as far as to purchase another book from Cope’s collection that should arrive any day now. Good news is I’m on my way to being a successful 2%er!

[Katarina Janoskova · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of BS.

I only got to the middle but should have stopped long before.
Whoever thinks they are a winner because they are the one sperm that got there first, should study some more biology. And also, being right brained and left brained is rubbish. Hormones have a huge impact on your mood, you'd know that if you were a woman. It's not a matter of 'being positive'.

Oh and children laugh more precisely because they don't have bills to pay and shit to worry about.

[Bernard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book should be called the art of writing nothing at all and then plagiarising famous authors in speech bubbles as filler. If anything this "literature" epitomises the stereotype that self help books are wishy washy. The author gags his reader in his "momentous" understanding of achieving happiness or as he calls it: becoming a "2 %-er" (kill-me-now), but fails to actually offer anything useful. Supposedly graduated his doctorate in this field, which is a slap in the face to tertiary education. If anything the book left me feeling wanting and uninspired. Achieving the exact opposite purpose for which I bought it

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me about 5 years ago and I’ve only just got around to downloading it onto my Kindle. I wish I had read a sample of it before buying. I studied some psychology as part of my degrees, and wrote a Masters dissertation around wellbeing and happiness; so have already read much of the research and the theories which underpin this book. I suggest choosing some of the terms and authors mentioned here and looking up their work, or at least Googling for a precis of their main points. It will be far less irritating and much more informative, without the constant ‘Aren’t we great, so knowledgeable, so funny.’

It’s awful. I just couldn’t finish it.

A few examples of a little of what I found grated, or was annoying or offensive:

‘The UK government has recently initiated a national happiness survey, much to the chagrin of the popular press. ‘Waste of Money’ screamed the Express. ‘Happy Clappy Nonsense’, suggested a Mail columnist. (The irony that a happiness survey has created so much anger seems to have been lost on everyone but me.)’

Arrogant much? Really no one else in a country of 60 million?

A few tabloid newspapers is not ‘so much anger’, it’s a journalistic technique to scream a headline to increase buyers of their rag.

‘Anecdotally, we all know a few really happy and upbeat people (although if you think about it, it’s actually very few). But because they’re not a drain on society – hardly ever ill, don’t go to the docs, just kind of get on with life in a positive, energetic way – we’ve never really bothered about them.’

So OFFENSIVE!

They are stating that people whom are unwell, or have mental health issues, or disabilities or are experiencing a vicious menopause etc etc… are a drain on society?! And they are never ever happy or upbeat? So to be positive and happy you need to never be ill, or ask for help? The language used in parts of this book is insensitive at best, offensive at worst.

The statement that there are very few really happy and upbeat people makes me certain that if is not the norm, then this is for a reason. Human beings are complex and life is challenging. Anyway, who wants to be up all the time? A positive mental attitude, yes. Not running people down or continually moaning, yes, but I believe being honest and *authentic* is really valuable for building strong relationships, through showing vulnerability and being brave enough to ask for help. It’s far healthier than putting on a happy face to mask how you really feel all the time. I’ve known one person who seemed upbeat and positive all the time and wow she was annoying to be around for any length of time! I never believed it was how she really felt all the time. How could it be? We never really got to know the real her at all. It felt like an act, or a mask. I admittedly might be wrong, but I trust my gut.

‘We have sought out research into positive people as well as the positive people themselves. It’s been written up in my thesis, all 80,000 words of it. And, because it’s a doctorate, I’ve had to try and make them big, complicated words! But if you lose the academic clap-trap, you’re left with some clear, simple and do-able principles.’

Ah… ‘the academic clap-trap’ this whole book is based upon? The research that you regurgitate, without which you would not have a book or any workshops to lead?

‘Andy Whittaker is an NLP Trainer as well as being a bit OCD on self-development.’

When was this book published?! Really this outdated and offensive OCD term in this context needs to be removed.


And if you really want a cringe-fest read the ‘About the authors’ section. Awful.

[Lucy Mackey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good packed full of interesting tips and reminded of the simple power of positive thinking. Don't let the mood hovers get you down.

[Hayat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the humour and anecdotes of both authors more than anything else.

[Lel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of really good points in here. I listened to the audio version and feel it would have been better in print so I can scribble notes.

[Rey Hawke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Hunter Solomon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, little book that contains some productive questions that prompt ideas on self-improvement. However, there are a fair few claims of how human psychology works that do not at all line up with the modern consensus of researchers, there is a lot of talk of the pseudoscientific field of NLP, and there is a disappointing amount of indirect sexism in the book (reading some basic literature on feminism would not go amiss for the authors!). Nothing groundbreaking, but there are a few good ideas that have been explained in simple and accessible terms.

[Eugenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Langsung tertarik membeli buku ini ketika membaca blurb di belakangnya,
"Menjadi cemerlang, sukses, dan bahagia bukanlah soal mengubah jati diri kita- melainkan soal mencari tahu apa yang berhasil bagi kita dan melakukan hal itu lebih banyak lagi."
Menarik, bukan? Apalagi bagi para pekerja kreatif, wajib baca-punya deh buku ini :)

Jadi, di dalamnya membahas hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan kesibukan-kehidupan kreatif kita dan bagaimana mempertahankannya, bahkan mencapai sukses. Mengapa orang-orang tertentu terlihat bahagia dan bersinar, apa itu pemicu, bagaimana cara memaksimalkan kekuatan terbaik kita, mengapa kita harus mewaspadai truk sampah, mengapa ada rumus orang-orang tertentu-waktu-waktu tertentu, sampai celana dalam di luar.
Bingung tapi penasaran?

Hihi... sebenarnya beberapa poin itu poin umum. Misalnya, harus mewaspadai truk sampah itu = belajar berpikir positif.
Namun, "The Art of Being Brilliant" membahasnya dengan berbeda. Selain ringan dan sarat humor, juga banyak pengalaman-pengalaman pribadi di dalamnya. Pada akhirnya, setelah proses berbagi tersebut, kita diajak untuk menjawab sendiri, apa yang ingin kamu lakukan?

Yuphs, membaca buku ini seolah sedang mengobrol dengan kedua Andi- Cope dan Whittaker, yang berpengalaman dan pengetahuannya luas. Menyenangkan dan inspiratif, jauh dari kata menggurui.

Selamat membaca, ya!

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple. Funny. To be taken seriously.

[Rod · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that changed my life. Read it, be happier and better as a result. Nuff said

[Otilia ILIE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book: fresh, inspiring and motivating. Very realistic and with lots of humour! Definitely a must!

[Michelle Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book and everyone should read. It was so simple to read, understand and had humour! Changed my way of thinking

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an uplifting book, but remember to be critical of your self-help reading.

I read this because we had the people from The Art of Being Brilliant company come do a training session at my library. The staff is going through some tough changes and there is a history of negativity in the department, so the staff development group I am a part of thought that a positive thinking workshop might help. To be clear though, I won't talk here about the workshop but just the book.

This book is full of well-known, straight forward advice, and it knows it. The author will tell you that the six principles he builds up to in this book are something that everyone knows but that few people practice. He uses positive psychology research and amusing metaphors to explain why most people don't practice these principles and to illustrate why they are important and why they can change your life.

One of the concepts that I found most useful in this book was the 'mood-hoovers' - people who think negatively all the time and who will take the enthusiasm and energy out of almost any situation. I definitely have ample experience with this people and giving them a non-derrogatory name has helped me think about their point of view and how it can affect their lives.

I have always naturally been a 2% - another concept the book introduces referring to positive people who tend to always look for the silver lining - and recently have found myself weighed down by a lot of issues at work, sometimes reading this book in the commute there would lift me up and remind me of who I naturally am before starting the day. For that, I am grateful.

I'd recommend this book to all the 'mood-hoovers' of the world for sure. For me it served as a happy reminder. It was simply written, well done. I does have some cringe moments and dad jokes, but I just try to pass them by. I could see that the author was aiming this to a specific audience and that I wasn't necessarily that audience.

I guess my biggest criticism or worry regards the rest of The Art Of Brilliance world. Even though I think this book can be helpful for some people, it did leave be a bit empty at the end of the read because part of me couldn't get over the slightly cynical view that this is just another of those motivational companies that charge others tons of money to tell people that if they just dream hard enough or get in the right mindset, they'll get where they truly want in life. It's not necessarily that I disagree with changing your mindset to change your life, but it's that I don't think that without forming new habits people can change their mindset like that and one book or a half-day workshop won't necessarily do very much. It just has that slightly cultish feel and that put me off massively.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally read 'self-help' books but after seeing Andy W give a presentation at a recent conference and being impressed, I was pretty confident that this would be worth a read.

At heart almost every lesson in this short book is good old-fashioned common sense but that doesn't mean it's common practice and that we don't occasionally need a reminder to do what we already know we should.

I could relate to all of this but probably because I was already one of the inherently positive people they were trying to convert everybody else into. If you are a misery-monger who expects everything in life to be crap, then you may well struggle to get your head around all of this.

I read the kindle edition and that's the main reason this is only a 3 pointer. The many cartoons and quotations in bubbles are fixed in size and very small. I don't have problems with my eyesight but even I tried to make them bigger, only to find that you get what you get and making the text bigger doesn't have any impact on the cartoons. Most are very good - but would be better if you could actually read them.

To Andy W, the man who moved from England's third worst town to the second worst and remains eternally optimistic, I'd say a thank you for finding Andy C and putting into words a philosophy I already had without really realising it.

[Richard Vernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not especially into 'self-help' books - this was on our bookshelf (I don't even know where it came from) so I picked it up one day to see what it was and it became a bit of a book to read when I had 5 minutes spare here and there. The easy punchy structure makes this ideal for quick reading- it is relaxed and funny in places.

So - it's easy enough to read but whether you like it or not may well be down to your view of the underlying principal of this book - about gaining a positive perspective and appreciating that you are in control of 'you'.

I guess the golden nugget for any book like this is whether anyone takes anything from it - and I have to say I think I did - I liked the messaging and although it may resonate easier if you already have a fairly positive attitude (which I generally do have), it doesn't do any harm being reminded of it occasionally.

[Milan Buno · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Prečo mať život len čiernobiely, keď môže byť farebný?"

Užil som si túto knižku, je podaná s vtipom, nadhľadom, naozaj veľmi ľudsky, jednoducho, dobre som sa bavil na autorských ilustráciách a kresbách...a do toho všetkého poučné myšlienky, rady, tipy. Ako byť pozitívny a sústrediť sa na to, čo vás v živote teší, čo vám vie vyčariť úsmev na tvári, pri čom sa viete uvoľniť a zrelaxovať.
Krátke tipy, neraz veselé príbehy, ktoré donútia zamyslieť sa - o vzťahoch, práci, iných ľuďoch.
Dobré postrehy, pri ktorých sa oplatí pristaviť a popremýšľať o nich. Napríklad, že až 90% všetkého, čo sa nám prihodí, môžeme ovplyvniť svojím postojom, správaním, prístupom. Iba 10% nevieme ovplyvniť...je to len na nás, ako sa v danej situácii zachováme.

[Nguyen Linh Chi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book with lovely illustrations about how to be positive, confident, kind, and grateful. Don't expect so much, there is not anything really beneficial from this book, a little bit rambling in my opinion. Some lessons can be noted:
- Anyone can start something new. It takes real leaders to stop something old.
- Positive thinking releases the abilities you have. Positive thinking won't make you do anything better. It lets you do 'everything' better than negative thinking will.
- It's not about the incident, it's our reaction to the situation.
- "Sweetheart, God created all those things so you don't have to. They are already here for you to enjoy, so you can focus on what it is you want to achieve with your life".
- "So when somebody wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on".

[Michał Stryjak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in a hurry and needed to pickup my daughter from day camp. I left early so that I manage to get her home and be on time to gym. Went to a day camp building, but kids went to a park and I needed to wait till they come back. I started to get irritated as I will be late.
That day I listened a chapter about 90/10 rule. I chose not to be angry as I can't control what's happening.
Kids came back, decided I will take her with me to the gym (I was still late). And we had such a great time! My coach give her so much attention and we had wondeful father-daughter time.
I am glad I controlled my mood. I chose to be positive.

[Bodine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already making the deliberate choice to lead my life with kindness and positivity, this book wasn't as much a guide towards making those choices as a stimulation to keep making them. It maybe told me what I already knew but getting the confirmation you're doing the right things is always nice.

I enjoyed the writing: how Andy writes about Andy, the other way around and it is very low-key. They assume you actually already know everything they're about to tell you (and you do) but give you that extra nudge to do something with that knowledge.

[Emma Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly inspiring, thought provoking & enjoyable read. It is a book that you can read over again, turn to specific pages & specific pick me up quotes. It is a 'friend' who will keep me company many days in my journey through life😊. I love the positive outlook, the simple comments that mean so much! As both Andy's have mentioned - don't be a mood hoover, the little things matter, change the way you perceive a situation & the rest will follow. Thank you for this little treasure that can really change lives X

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as a random pick from the Library and loved it. It gives ideas for increasing your positive thinking and, though some of it seems fairly obvious, the style in which it is delivered, means that it's never boring. Added to this, the reader, Glen McCready, is perfect in the role, reading in a Jeeves-type manner which absolutely fits the sometimes quasi-comical content. The message given is easy to understand and delivered lightly, never going beyond the reader's understanding. I liked this so much that I am going to buy the actual book!

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a recommendation from Daniel Willcocks of Next Level Authors – and it was delightful. Bonus that I found it at my local library. The humour is very English though.

It seems simplistic, but we know our brains are filters, so if you keep asking it to find negatives, it'll find them. And vice versa.

Come home and complain every day and your brain collects things to complain about, plus, you ruin your day and the day of whoever you are complaining to.

Play to your strengths seems obvious too, but so many businesses get that one wrong, too.

4 stars

[Sarah Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook having seen a presentation by Andy Cope a few weeks ago. Whilst the book isn’t a patch on an amazing interactive session for obvious reasons, this was a great memory jogger & prompt to keep up with some of the tips & tricks he engaged us in during the session. The time spent with Andy had me & my colleague buzzing for days & we still talk about it whenever we see each other- I’m normally a sceptic about such things but he’s totally won me over & this book was a nice reminder of that.

[Joanne Pegge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was recommended to read this in 2019 by my manager at the time ….. be the best version of yourself ….. smash each and every day …. Start the day with a positive mindset. This book was the first step in my journey to seeing things in a different light ……. And on the days I wasn’t feeling it, I still drew from what this perspective had given me. I thank my boss (old boss) most days for all the things he taught me and all the things he shared that has transformed my views / ways of thinking. I recommend this book whole heartedly. Brilliant. Bought the teenage version for my daughter 🎉

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in what I think the authors think is 'folksy' style. It was strange to have them simultaneously quote research and say how interesting it is while using anti-intellectualism to appeal to people.

Ideas were good, and the last third or so of the book picked up.

It was also funny that so many of the bibliography, call-outs and reviews were also by self-help people, nice closed circuit there.

(read on Libby app)

[Roxanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-help book based on positive psychology written in a highly entertaining manner and the Audible edition is surely going to give you some good chuckles. But don’t expect too much: if you’re ever picked up a book on positive psychology, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and authentic happiness, there won’t be any new concepts for you.