on a high note
Get Happy, Dammit
Find Inspiration and Motivation With Local Author Katherine Gotthardt By Erin Pittman
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f you’ve found yourself spending more time with books in 2020, local author Katherine Gotthardt has published one to add to your reading pile — and one that provides more than just a simple escape from daily life. For those feeling stagnant at home or work and lacking motivation and inspiration in their career, she offers tips, exercises and creative pieces to help readers find the happiness they’re searching for.
Get Happy, Dammit — Staying Inspired and Motivated in an Often-Unhappy World packs a punch with easy-to-read chapters that include insights, exercises and poetry, all designed to build inspiration and motivation, two elements necessary for happiness, according to Gotthardt. The book offers philosophy, psychology and practical applications that Gotthardt says stem from ideas she used in the classroom and daily living. Many of the exercises lean heavily on writing. “From teaching and from doing a lot of work in my own life, I know how important inspiration and motivation are and how they can lead to greater happiness. I wanted to share what I’ve learned and help as many people as possible,” she said.
The Contents “At Work” Gotthardt explains she wrote Get Happy Dammit because in the past, she had encountered too many unhappy people in a few different workplaces. She found herself scratching her head
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December 2020 prince william living
and wondering how such successful professionals could be so miserable. What was wrong? Was it the environment? Life circumstances? Attitude? What were these people not getting from work that they needed? “These were highperforming folks who, in spite of their successes, just seemed like they were trudging through the days without any purpose. They were down. They Katherine Gotthardt hated their jobs. They hated the routine. They said outright that they were not inspired or motivated. It was disconcerting. But it made me think about times when I was down, what I had to do to get out of it, and it encouraged me to get writing about ways to improve quality of life,” she said. Gotthardt has been asked why a book was her answer.
