Book Review: ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ by Dale Carnegie
Some learnings have relevance forever and sometimes a little more today than yesterday and tomorrow. The current unusual time of the pandemic brings unforeseen anxiety and difficulties, challenging the strongest of humans. Staying positive is the only choice we have to fight against this crisis successfully. These lessons are exactly what Dale Carnegie talks about in his classic, ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,’ by providing simple techniques to analyze and conquer “worry” successfully. This book is the need of the hour, and I read it at an opportune time.
The book does not preach any new concepts or ideas, just some old rules of the game, we have been taught during various facets of our life, many a time, by good old granny at home. We know them, yet forget to apply in the usual humdrum of life. Carnegie explains that we end up taking the burden of the past and future, making the situation look much more difficult in the present.
Many at times, I have spent sleepless nights planning/predicting or merely worrying about the future, but today I look at it as an unworthy bargain with my precious sleep. The book does not deliver a recipe for the magic potion, nor does it cure this habit of mine, but it has helped me in taking a step back to the present — my today.
The book relies heavily on anecdotal evidence. Carnegie quotes examples of how individuals, when in desperate situations, some inconceivable, were able to overcome their miseries and coiled their negative situation to a positive one.
Some of my favorite lessons from the book are:
- Live in day-tight compartments
- The magical PAD formula — while handling a big problem or tough situation, Predict what worst can happen? Accept the worst-case scenario. Devote all your energy in beating the prediction
- Break the habit before it breaks you — the choice is yours
- Talk to self at least once in a day — and you have the best audience
- Let the time heal
Then there are dedicated chapters on “the problem solution approach” with beautiful incidents. Carnegie essentially suggests creating a mental attitude that will bring peace and happiness. And follow the famous saying, “Do what makes you happy.” Easier said than done but make a start and do it now.
The studies have suggested that whenever we practice positive emotions on the back of a tense situation, we bounce back more quickly and have a speedier recovery. Quoting Carnegie, “If it’s not going to bother me two months from now, why I shall be worrying about this now? Why not assume the same attitude I will have two months from now?” Even during this lockdown, we can still have many moments to savor with self, family, and loved ones. So, grab your favorite cuppa and enjoy this vast collection of tips and tricks to combat stress or find the very music or that book or that series on OTT, which you were planning to watch.
By the time I finished this book, Bobby Mcferrin was singing in my head:
“Don’t worry, be happy
In every life, we have some trouble
But when you worry, you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy now.”
You can buy this book at this link:
