The Present by Spencer Johnson

This book was written by the same author of “Who Moved My Cheese” which is an excellent short little motivational book for people who need a better perspective on life. The Present can easily read it in a few minutes. It is written in a simple way that is easy to understand even by young ones.

It tells a parable of a young man who is mentored by an older gentleman. The gentleman tells the man about “The Present”, and he does all he can to figure out what exactly that means. He finally realizes the “present” is not a physical gift, but a concept involving being totally involved in whatever you are currently doing.

I found the book more of a children’s story with an inspirational bent rather than a self-help book. The story is too simple and predictable. The concept is very simple and just a simple reminder for readers. It simply tells us to live in the present. The past is done which we cannot redo while the future we cannot predict. What we can do is learn our lessons from the past and move on, and take action in the present to obtain our future desires. By learning how to learn from the past and prepare from the future, we can be much happier and productive in the present.