The advice Carnegie gives is all stuff you've heard before, but he pairs it with compelling stories about

people who've taken the worrying to an extreme and who've totally turned their lives around by
ditching their angst. Some of my favorite points:

Fatigue comes from stress, not from work.

Becoming wise is a path. As you go, remember that compassionate, considered responses make life
more manageable.

Contented life is a choice.


I was so blue that I didn't have nice shoes to wear, and it was until I met a man on the wheelchair at the
corner of the street. He didn't even have both legs. I helped him buy drink from the vending machine. I
asked him if he was upset of sitting on the wheelchair every day. He smiled to me, "I used to be, but not
now". "Do you think I can speak?", he asked me. That was a strange question. "We are talking right
now", I replied unconsciously. "Do you think I can see you?", he continued. He made me wild with his
nonsense question. I was about to shout at him to stop playing these crazy questions with me, but I
didn't. "I don't think you are also blind, aren't you?", I talked to him loudly. He suddenly smiled to me.
"You see, now I can talk to a handsome boy like you, I can see my beautiful world of love and joy, I can
listen to my favorite music, so how lucky you think I am". Chill ran through my spine as soon as I heard
these words. "How lucky you are", I repeated.
"What about me? Am I lucky?", I said to myself in my head. I even have my both legs walking on this soft
earth. "And then what the hell I'm worried about?"......."Without nice shoes?" I laughed at myself.
He totally changed my life, changed the way I'm thinking and used to think. No matter what happens,
I'm still a lucky man on the planet.
Thank you, Dale Carnegie!(less)

Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry
Rule 1 - If you want to avoid worry, do what Sir William Osler did" Live in "day-tight compartments."
Don't stew about the future. Just live each day until bedtime.
Rule 2 - The next time Trouble - with a Capital T - backs you up in a corner, try the magic formula of
Willis H. Carrier:
a. Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can't solve my problem?"
b. Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst - if necessary.
c. Then calmly try to improve upon the worst - which you have already mentally agreed to accept.
Rule 3 - Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health. "Those
who do not know how to fight worry die young."

Basic Techniques in Analyzing Worry
Rule 1 - Get the facts. Remember that Dean Hakes of Columbia University said that "half the worry in the
world is caused by people trying to make decisions before they have sufficient knowledge on which to
base a decision.
Rule 2 - After carefully weighing all the facts, come to a decision.
Rule 3 - Once a decision is carefully reached, act! Get busy carrying out your decision - and dismiss all
anxiety about the outcome.
Rule 4 - When you or any of your associates, are tempted to worry about a problem, write out and and
answer the following questions:
a. What is the problem?
b. What is the cause of the problem?
c. What are all the possible solutions?
d. What is the best solution?

How to Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
Rule 1 - Crowd worry out of your mind by keeping busy. Plenty of action is one of the best therapies ever
devised for curing the "wibber gibbers."
Rule 2 - Don't fuss about trifles. Don't permit little things - the mere termites of life - to ruin your
happiness.
Rule 3 - Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries. Ask yourself: "What are the odds against this
thing's happening at all?"
Rule 4 - Cooperate with the inevitable. If you know a circumstance is beyond your power to change or
revise, say to yourself: "It is so; it cannot be otherwise."
Rule 5 - Put a "stop-loss" order on your worries. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth -
and refuse to give it any more.
Rule 6 - Let the past bury its dead. Don't saw sawdust.

Seven Ways to Cultivate a Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace and Happiness
Rule 1 - Let's fill our minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope, for "our life is what our
thoughts make of it."
Rule 2 - Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves far more
than we hurt them. Let's do as General Eisenhower does: let's never waste a minute thinking about
people we don't like.
Rule 3 - A. Instead of worrying about ingratitude, let's expect it. Let's remember that Jesus healed ten
lepers in one day - and only one thanked Him. Why should we expect more gratitude than Jesus got?
B. Let's remember that the only way to find happiness is not to expect gratitude - but to give for the joy
of giving.
C. Let's remember that gratitude is a "cultivated" trait; so if we want our children to be grateful, we
must train them to be grateful.
Rule 4 - Count your blessings - not your troubles!
Rule 5 - Let's not imitate others. Let's find ourselves to be ourselves, for "envy is ignorance" and
"imitation is suicide."
Rule 6 - When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade.
Rule 7 - Let's forget our own unhappiness - by trying to create a little happiness for others. "When you
are good to others, you are the best to yourself."

How to Keep from Worrying about Criticism
Rule 1 - Unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. It often means that you have aroused jealousy
and envy. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog.
Rule 2 - Do the very best you can; and then put up your umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from
running down the back of your neck.
Rule 3 - Let's keep a record of the fool things we have done and criticize ourselves. Since we can't hope
to be perfect, let's do what E. H. Little did: let's ask for unbiased, helpful, constructive criticism.

Six Ways to Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High
Rule 1 - Rest before you get tired.
Rule 2 - Learn to relax at your work.
Rule 3 - Learn to relax at home.
Rule 4 - Apply these four good working habits:
a. Clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.
b. Do things in the order of their importance.
c. When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have facts necessary to make a decision.
d. Learn to organize, deputize, and supervise.
Rule 5 - To prevent worry and fatigue, put enthusiasm into your work.
Rule 6 - Remember, no one was ever killed by lack of sleep. It is worrying about insomnia that does the
damage - not the insomnia.

- Advice - live in day-tight compartments.
- Imagine the worst, accept it, and try to improve upon it. Then you have nothing to lose and everything
to gain.
- Get the facts, analyze them, arrive at a decision, and act on the decision. You worry more when you
don't know
- what is the problem? What is the cause? What are all possible solutions? What solution do you
suggest?
- being busy leaves no time for worry
- don't be bothered by the little things
- cooperate with the inevitable. Bend like the willow; don't resist like the oak
- when we change our actions, we change the feeling. Act happy even if you're not.
- You don't attract what you want, but you attract what you are
- Don't expect others to be grateful. Give for the inner joy of giving. To raise grateful children, we have
to be grateful.
- quote by John Baillie - "What makes a man a Christian is neither his intellectual acceptance of certain
ideas, nor his conformity to a certain rule, but his possession of a certain Spirit, and hsi participation in a
certain Life."
- no one ever kicks a dead dog - if you're kicked and criticized, it means you are accomplishing
something and are worthy of attention.
- people aren't thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves
- take naps.
- relax your eyes
- do things in the order of importance.
- clear desk of everything not related to the immediate problem at hand.
- don't put off decisions

I think the problem with this book is that it's mostly based on persuasive voice. Once the effects of that
wear off, it's hard to be convinced to change an ingrained habit. Although, what helps is a desperation
to do so.

There are many examples in this book, but very little "this is why it works". Even more so, the further
you go into it, the more the author sounds like "What's the matter with you? Don't you see? Why don't
you do this?"; and I think, if this were a person-to-person argument, that's the least effective attitude to
take on convincing someone to change something. If one can't get over that tone and recognize their
own need, they won't get very much out of this.

Dale Carnegie says he was a salesman at some point, and this shows in the way he speaks in his writing.
As we get exposed to more and more commercial approaches in daily life, it makes this approach aged -
we know better than to listen to every salesman, no matter how convincing he can be. There needs to
be more `meat`on what he says in this book, regardless of that it is true wisdom. He is too proud of his
abilities to persuade, and relies mainly on this, over good information. He sounds more like a nagging
mother.

Really, what determines the quality of such a book is: did this actually help, and how effectively? Not the
language, voice, or nice examples. For me, it has not swayed me in a profound way that would cause me
to change, and I feel like there is still a lot of labour left on my part.

A nice book on how to conquer worry. There are so many tips here I actually have a hard time
remembering what to do when I worry! The book says two things about itself: to read it twice (second
time underscoring and highlighting interesting texts) and not to consider it a "reading book" but more
like a manual. I've done the first and I'm still confused by all the great tips. Basically it says not to worry...
then there are a lot of ways to achieve that. If I would read it again I would probably just read it through
once, and then look up the index once in a while. Let's see if I ever go back to it, I might even update this
review then. (don't hold your breath)

Conclusion: Read it, on a holiday or some time relaxing.

Reading Dale Carnegie is like watching old-time preachers on black & white film. The writing is so unlike
anything put out todayits just real and relatable (at the cost of being a bit lengthy).

Dale (were on a first name basis by now) breaks down all the reasons you may worry and how you
break out from that worry. You may already know this, but that worry is killing you. Dale tells you this
and why. Hes done his researchpicking up every book available to him back in the early 1900s. He
wants to give you an honest approach, detailing everything he can, right up to the address of the person
hes talking about.

Besides the actual advice, I really liked his old-school approach: tell you what hes going to talk about,
talk about it, and then tell you what he just talked about. And when I say talk, I mean it like that; reading
this feels like Dale is talking to you.

As for the advice, some of it may be dated (specifically about the housewife), but a lot of it is just as
good and practical as it was back then. He talks about compartmentalizing your current situation,
developing a worse-case scenario plan, and moving forward. There are plenty (maybe too many) stories
of people in real-life situations that either put these plans to use or tried to forge through life without
the plans.

You could probably get through this book by just reading the summaries, but youll get a lot more out of
it if you read through it in sections, bit-by-bit.

This book helped me out a lot, but Im giving it four stars because it did drag on a bit much for todays
standards.
I know that seems like a low rating for a classic author like Carnegie, so I feel compelled to let readers of
this review know that it doesn't mean so much that I think the book is bad and not worth reading so
much as it means I don't think the book is worth buying, which to me is an important distinction.

The best things about it were that it was a quick read and that Carnegie did have a bullet summaries at
the end of each chapter, as well as a one page list of highlights for each section. All you really need to do
is read those, and you've got the book. I may actually write some of those things down.

That, essentially was my problem with it -- he didn't have a great deal to say, and yet he took over 300
pages to say it. I didn't even bother to read the last section (Thirty-One True Stories), as I could tell by
scanning it that it'd just be more rehashing of the first seven parts.

Essentially, this book could have been a pamphlet. It was very simplistic, and I'm sure that everyone has
read all his suggestions and tips - some of which are useful and work, like keeping busy, and trying to
change your thinking - from other sources. Alot of the advice is just common sense. And the examples
were silly and too detailed; it got to where I was skipping over them and only reading the parts that
were highlighted by the person who loaned me the book.

Carnegie uses the word "worry" in such a broad way that it doesn't have a real meaning; in some cases
what he calls "worry" to me seems more like a phobia - something a person would likely need
professional assistance to address. Last, in general I found that that the book didn't flow - each chapter
felt disconnected from the next.

In general, this book is flawed, but it has some useful information that some people will be able to apply.
I wouldn't pay money for this book (at least not much) but if worry is something that is getting you down,
you could benefit from skimming the book for an hour or so. As I said initially, just read the bold type at
the end of each chapter, and the summary at the end of each part.

I got this book from a friend after reading it's twin brother title; How to Win Friends and Influence
people. It is a great book by itself.

However, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, for me, is taking it further North by several notches.
I'm glad I had seen this book on my friend's bookshelf one fine night out and boldly request to borrow
the book.

Having read other self-help books, this one is up there along with Hill's Think and Grow Rich. My
recommendation even extends to having these book re-read at least once a year.

While Think and Grow Rich is pushing for progress, relentless focus to get moving and settled with
nothing but the ideal vision you set for yourself, Dale's book is providing the balance to ask us to taking
it one-step in a day, relieving us from the sorrows of tomorrow and what MIGHT be happening.

It goes without saying that the book is free from any flaws whatsoever but the humane if sometimes
over-used stories and how 'easy' it sounds just shows that the old adage anything worth it is simple yet
never easy.

"The secret of being miserable is having the leisure to determines whether you are happy or not". Nice.

I hope you will enjoy the book as much as I do.

The book I read to research this post is How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie which is
an excellent book. This book is something of a classic and was written quite a long time ago. Dale is most
famous for the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale got turned down as a motivation
lecturer by several universities and had to settle for teaching at a YMCA night school which he reckons
was the best thing that ever happened to him. Surprising in those days there was little written about
worrying and so Dale wrote this book on the subject. The ghist of the book is you should only worry
about things that really matter. Many people worry about minor things of little consequence. He has a
formula that you should focus on things that are happening today and maybe tomorrow but worrying
about anything else is pointless. He suggests if you have a problem think of what the worst outcome
maybe. Then accept that may happen. Then focus on minimizing any consequences of that problem. He
mentions one case where someone was in a submarine during world war 2 and was bombarded by a
mine laying ship with depth charges for 15 hours in shallow water. That person saw his life flash before
him and understood the futility of worrying about minor things. He promised himself if he got out of
that situation alive he would never worry about anything unless it was on a par with that situation again.
Luckily the mine laying ship ran out of depth charges and sailed away leaving their submarine battered
but in one piece. When Dale taught at the YMCA night school he had the challenge of making sure
people came back the following week and had to find a speedy solution to their problems. He was paid
according to how many turned up each week. This is a really good book

Review: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Trent
By Trent
August 5, 2007
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Each Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity or personal development book.

Carnegie two?Ive written before concerning the positive effect that Dale Carnegies more famous book
How to Win Friends and Influence People had on me, and also wrote a detailed overview of the book. It
took years, however, before I bothered to pick up any of Carnegies other books, not until I was well into
a career.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is basically a continuation of the philosphy of How to Win Friends
and Influence People: break things down into smaller steps, then let the smaller steps add up. This time,
however, the philosophy is applied to the idea of stress and worry, both workplace-related and
otherwise. Much like the other Carnegie book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is a large
collection of small, practiceable pieces that anyone can apply.



Does the advice work? Is the book worth reading, even given that it was written in the 1930s? Lets find
out.

Looking At How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Part One: Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry
Most worrying comes down to either things entirely out of your control or things that are further out
than today. You can tackle the first one by merely imagining the worst possible outcome, visualizing
what would become of it, accept that, then realize that anything better than the worst is better than
what youve already accepted. For long-term worries, focus on the immediate task at hand and do it as
well as you possibly can, because even if the connection isnt obvious, doing the best you can on your
immediate task will help solve that long term task, either directly (by building a foundation for making it
easier) or indirectly (by opening up alternate paths).

Part Two: Basic Techniques In Analyzing Worry
When youre worried about something, be proactive. Start gathering as many facts as you can about the
situation, then use those facts to develop a plan of attack. Once the attack plan is in place, get down to
business implementing that plan and just focus on the task at hand. Most worrying is reactive take it
to the problem by being proactive.

It all comes down to four questions: what is the problem? What is the cause of the problem? What are
all possible solutions? What is the best solution? Answer these questions in order and youll dig down to
the root of any worry and attack it head on.

Part Three: How To Break The Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
Another tack to take in battling stress is to find other ways to fill your time. For me, for example, the
best solution to fighting stress is to keep busy all the time. If Im always busy and have an organized
system of keeping relevant tasks at hand, stress goes away because Im constantly keeping up with the
things I need to do. One should also let go of the past and focus entirely on the present and future;
those are the areas where you can affect things, not the past.

Part Four: Seven Ways To Cultivate A Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace and Happiness
In a nutshell, the seven methods are:

Meditation Spend some time filling your mind with thoughts of peace. Find a meditative technique that
works for you and practice it.

Dont worry about enemies Instead of thinking about people you dont like, spend some time thinking
about people that you do like.

Forget about ingratitude If someone else isnt grateful for your help, dont worry about it in the least.
Its a reflection on them, not you, so dont concern yourself with it.

Count your blessings Think of all the good things you have in life.

Dont imitate others Find your own path. Imitation leads directly to jealousy.



Look for positives in the negative If something bad happens, try to find the positives in it.

Be nice to others Even if youre unhappy, positive actions and attitudes towards others might make
others less unhappy.

Part Five: The Perfect Way To Conquer Worry
Interestingly, its prayer, whether you happen to believe in a God or not. The point of prayer isnt that
you necessarily expect someone to answer or that youre communicating with a higher power (though
this is definitely of importance to people of faith), but that you can express what ails you, voice it in
some fashion within, and open yourself up to receiving an answer, whether from your own subconscious
or from a higher power. If you havent prayed, even if youre an atheist, give it a shot.

Part Six: How To Keep From Worrying About Criticism
Criticism comes in three flavors. If its unjustified, just view it as a compliment its coming from a
person jealous of your success. If its well-stated and mature, be thankful for it, because its coming from
someone who sincerely wants to help you and may have wisdom to share. This eliminates a lot of
criticism; you can fend off the rest by just doing your best and then weathering it when it happens.

Part Seven: Six Ways To Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High
These six techniques boil down to two basic things: get plenty of rest and eliminate distractions. This
chapter is actually a much longer list of tips than just six; the titular six are merely groupings. In fact, one
set of the ideas (those to handle workplace issues) sounds an awful lot like a prototype version of GTD.

Part Eight: How to Find the Kind of Work in Which You May Be Happy and Successful
This section was extremely outdated, but the very core of the advice boils down to figuring out yourself
first. If the topic of this chapter really interests you, this germ of an idea grows into full bloom in the
book What Color Is Your Parachute? (read my detailed review of it).

Part Nine: How to Lessen Your Financial Worries
Here, Carnegie lays down the very basics of personal finance, from the simple spend less than you earn
statements to the basics of budgeting. The advice is simple and very much geared towards families
during the Depression, with such interesting dated tips as never give life insurance money to a widow
in cash. Much like the previous section, the advice here can be found in a more modern context
elsewhere quite easily.

Part Ten: How I Conquered Worry
The book concludes with a large assortment of stories from various people, many of whom were well-
known contemporaries of Dale Carnegie. I found Jack Dempseys essay particularly interesting, mostly
because I happen to be a big fan of prizefighting from the early twentieth century, once even going so
far as to decorate my dormitory room with posters of Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. The stories
reiterate the advice in several ways and are both culturally interesting and also great for providing
examples of how Carnegies advice can be implemented in day-to-day life.

Buy or Dont Buy?
One of the biggest criticisms of Carnegies books is that they focus too squarely on the immediate and
the mechanical and dont look often enough at the deeper meaning. For example, with How to Win
Friends and Influence People, the book is often criticized for discussing specific mannerisms and
presentation tips and conversational tips, but missing out on the bigger issue of how to actually relate to
people.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is loaded with lots of very specific ideas for conquering stress in
the moment, which is quite useful and makes this book worth reading. However, it doesnt address
fixing some of the true root causes of stress: overall lifestyle choices and the like.

In other words, if stress is a constant in your life, you may need to look deeply at the root causes of it.
Carnegies advice is an excellent balm for your wound, but it wont heal the wound you may need to
look elsewhere for that type of help. I found that Carnegies immediate advice on stress and happiness
worked very well when coupled with the long view of advice from books like The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People; neither one really addresses it all as a whole, but they compliment each other quite
well.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is well worth reading and adding to your repertoire of personal
techniques, but it isnt a be-all-end-all answer to stress.

POSTED BY DONALD LATUMAHINA 9 COMMENTS

When I was looking for a book related to our monthly theme of Happiness, I found a book by Dale
Carnegie entitled How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Its clearly related to happiness. Worrying is an
opposite of being happy and learning how to overcome worrying means learning how to be happy. Since
I knew Dale Carnegies reputation, I decided to pick a copy and read it.
Inside How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
How to Stop Worrying and Start LivingThe book is divided into eight parts with several chapters in each.
I cant cover all those chapters in this review, so I will just write some that particularly resonate with me.
Part One: Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry
1. Live in Day-tight Compartments
Often we worry because we take the burden of both the past and the future with us today. That makes
the situation look much more difficult. What we should do is to focus just on today.
I love this tip. Sometimes I still carry the burden of the past and worry about the future, but this chapter
clearly points out that what important is today. If I do my best today, the future will take care of itself.
2. A Magic Formula for Solving Worry Situations
To solve worry situations, there are three steps you should do. First, ask yourself what is the worst that
could happen?. Second, be willing to accept the worst if necessary. Third, calmly try to fix the situation
you have accepted.
It takes practice to apply this tip, especially the second step, but it helps us regain our calm. We can then
think how to solve the situation.
Part Two: Basic Techniques in Analyzing Worry
4. How to Analyze and Solve Worry Problems
To overcome worrying, you should know how to analyze and solve worry problems. You can do that by
finding and collecting all the facts, analyzing those facts, making a decision, and act on it.
This tip is good because we usually worry about something we are uncertain about. Once we get
everything clear, we can see what we should do about it.
Part Three: How to Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
6. How to Crowd Worry Out of Your Mind
There is one simple way to crowd worry out of your mind: make yourself busy. When our mind is
occupied with work, we wont have time to worry.
I think it applies not only to worry, but to all kinds of negative thoughts as well. We will greatly decrease
their influence if we are busy doing something constructive.
9. Co-operate with the Inevitable
Often we arent happy because we try to change things we cant change. We should learn to identify
those things and accept them.
This is something I personally apply. Whenever I encounter a problem, I quickly assess whether or not I
can do something about it. If the answer is no, I will just forget it and move to something else.
Part Four: Seven Ways to Cultivate a Mental Attitude that Will Bring You Peace and Happiness
15. Would You Take a Million Dollars for What You Have?
If we want to be happy, we should focus on 90 percent things that work well in our life and forget the 10
percent that dont. On the contrary, if we want to worry we should focus on the 10 percent that dont
work well and forget the 90 percent that work. Which one do you choose?
18. How to Cure Depression in Fourteen Days
There is a magic way to cure depression: make other people happy. If you focus on how to make
others happy, you will inevitable make yourself happy. The less you think about yourself, the more you
will be happy.

Part Five: The Perfect Way to Conquer Worry
19. How My Mother and Father Conquered Worry
You can find strengths in spirituality to overcome worry even for seemingly unsurmountable problems.
Carnegie said that spirituality is the perfect way to overcome worry and I agree with him.
Part Six: How to Keep From Worrying About Criticism
21. Do This and Criticism Cant Hurt You
Do your work as good as possible and then open your umbrella so that the rain of criticisms wont touch
you.
I love it. I should worry not about what other people say but about whether or not Ive done my best.
Once Ive done my best, I can be happy no matter what people say.
22. Fool Things I Have Done
One of the best teachers is your own experience. You can learn from it by taking notes of the fool things
you have done and criticize yourself. If you constantly do this, you will constantly improve yourself.
Part Seven: Six Ways to Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High
23. How to Add One Hour a Day to Your Waking Life
While it may seem counterintuitive, one of the best ways to increase your productivity is to take rest
regularly. Take rest before you feel tired. Doing this simple thing will energize yourself throughout the
day and enable you to accomplish more.
Energy management is a topic Im interested in right now since this is something I should learn to do
better.
27. How to Banish the Boredom That Produces Fatigue, Worry, and Resentment
Learning to banish boredom is essential for happiness. An effective way to do that is by making what
you do interesting. Even things that look boring can be made interesting if you are creative. For example,
you can turn your work into a contest either just for yourself or with your colleagues
While I try to follow my passions, there are always some boring things I must do. If I can learn to make
them interesting, I can accomplish much more in my life.
Part Eight: How I Conquered Worry
This part contains many stories of individuals who applied the principles outlined in previous parts.
There are also some new tips that havent been covered before.
One of them is reading history. Reading history helps you get wider perspective of the world so that you
can see how small your problem actually is.
Conclusion
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is one of the best books on happiness. In fact, its the best book
(aside from a few spiritual books) Ive found so far on being happy.
This book is full of useful tips. It gives you advice that covers practically every aspects you can think of
about worry. More than just theoretical tips, they are proven tips that have been applied by many
people throughout the history. The book itself is full of stories that describe how people apply those tips
in their life.
Besides teaching me about how to stop worrying, this book also teaches me about how to write. The
way Dale Carnegie wrote impresses me. He took seven years of preparation to write this book. During
that time he collected many stories, read a lot of books, and interviewed many people about the topic.
Now I understand the tip given by On Writing Well:
You should always collect more material than you will use. Every article is strong in proportion to the
surplus of details from which you can choose the few that will serve you best.
Dale Carnegie did it. Thats why reading How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is like reading centuries
worth of wisdom in one book.
I just finished reading (or rather listening to the audio version of) Dale Carnegies book: How to Stop
Worrying and Start Living and can highly recommend it. Most of the illnesses as well as stress and
depression is the result of worries. Often worries are completely unwarranted for as only 10% of those
dreadful scenarios really come to pass. Since there was no course on how to overcome worries, Dale
decided to write one himself, to be used in his adult education.
If worries are holding you back from going after your dreams, if you feel like youre stuck and dont
know what it is that you truly want and you still have to make a living in the meanwhile, get this book.
In it you will find an abundance of information on how to overcome these worries once and for all.
The short of it is:
Write down the problem and what the worst possible outcome is. For example: losing your job.
Think of what your options are in that situation For example: get another job, spend more time with
your family, Look if there is even any sort of benefit or try to see the upside of it. Dont forget, it is the
worst-case scenario. Accept it if it should come to pass. It does not mean you work towards that but you
just accept that this will be a blemish on your life but that you will have learned from it and you will have
grown from this experience if it were to happen. You will feel more relaxed because you dont have to
worry anymore. You KNOW now what the worst-case scenario is so let it go and you will start to feel
more relaxed.
Start to focus on how you can improve upon this worst-case scenario. See what you can start to do to
make the impact less severe or how you can avert it at all. For example. You can start to talk to some
more people that may be able to help you secure a new job. Also, the fact alone of talking with more
people and putting yourself out there will make you more confident and receive ideas and inspiration
from the people around you. It may also make you put in the extra effort that your superiors may notice
to keep you on or even give you a promotion.
The most important thing is this: If you are worrying, you are in a downward spiral; you cant see any
solutions when youre looking at the downside of a situation. Its when you have taken the time to worry
about it, to objectively look at the situation and accept the worst-case scenario then you can leave that
part behind you. There is no need to worry any longer. From now on you can focus on solutions and that
is what it is all about.
This is far from the only gem that you will find in the book. The audiobook takes about 10 hours to listen
to but it is full of wonderful and priceless knowledge as well as stories from how people that he tought
have overcome their worries and what the impact has been on their life.
Take a genuine interest in somebody you meet today. You will see that he will beam all day as it is only
through giving that you will receive.
Have a great weekend,
Chris



Fundamental facts you should know about worry

If you want to avoid worry, do what Sir William Osler did: Live in "day-tight compartments." Don't stew
about the futures. Just live each day u ntil bedtime.
The next time Trouble--with a Capital T--backs you up in a corner, try the magic formula of Willis H.
Carrier:
Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can't solve my problem?
Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst--if necessary.
Then calmly try to improve upon the worst--which you have already mentally agreed to accept.
Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health. "Those who do
not know how to fight worry die young."
Part Two
Basic techniques in analyzing worry

Get the facts. Remember that Dean Hawkes of Columbia University said that "half the worry in the world
is caused by people trying to make decisions before they have sufficient knowledge on which to base a
decision."
After carefully weighing all the facts, come to a decision.
Once a decision is carefully reached, act! Get busy carrying out your decision--and dismiss all anxiety
about the outcome.
When you, or any of your associates, are tempted to worry about a problem, write out and answer the
following questions:
What is the problem?
What is the cause of the problem?
What are all possible solutions?
What is the best solution?
Part Three
How to break the worry habit before it breaks you

Crowd worry out of your mind by keeping busy. Plenty of action is one of the best therapies ever
devised for curing "wibber gibbers."
Don't fuss about trifles. Don't permit little things--the mere termites of life--to ruin your happines.
Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries. Ask yourself: "What are the odds against this thing's
happening at all?"
Co-operate with the inevitable. If you know a circumstance is beyond your power to change or revise,
say to yourself: "It is so; it cannot be otherwise."
Put a "stop-less" order on your worries. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth--and refuse
to give it anymore.
Let the past bury its dead. Don't saw sawdust.
Part Four
Seven ways to cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness

Let's fill our minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope, for "our life is what our thoughts
make it."
Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves far more than we
hurt them. Let's do as General Eisenhower does: let's never waste a minute thinking about people we
don't like.
Instead of worrying about ingratitude, let's expect it. Let's remember that Jesus healed ten lepers in one
day--and only one thanked Him. Why should we expect more gratitude than Jesus got?
Let's remember that the only way to find happiness is not to expect gratitude--but to give for the joy of
giving.
Let's remember that gratitude is a "cultivated" trait; so if we want our children to be grateful, we must
train them to be grateful.
Count your blessings--not your troubles!
Let's not imitate others. Let's find ourselves and be ourselves, for "envy is ignorance" and "imitation is
suicide."
When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make a lemonade.
Let's forget our own unhappiness--by trying to create a little happiness for others. "When you are good
to others, you are best to yourself."
Part Five
The perfect way to conquer worry

Prayer
Part Six
How to keep from worrying about criticism

Unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. It often means that you have aroused jealousy and
envy. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog.
Do the very best you can; and then put up your old umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from running
down the back of your neck.
Let's keep a record of the fool things we have done and criticize ourselves. Since we can't hope to be
perfect, let's do what E.H. Little did: let's ask for unbiased, helpful, constructive criticism.
Part Seven
Six ways to prevent fatigue and worry and keep your energy and spirits high

Rest before you get tired.
Learn to relax at your work.
Learn to relax at home.
Apply these four good workings habits:
Clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.
Do things in the order of their importance.
When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts to make a decision.
Learn to organize, deputize, and supervise.
To prevent worry and fatigue, put enthusiasm into your work.
Remember, no one was ever killed by lack of sleep. It is worrying about insomnia that does the damage--
not the insomnia.

BOOK REVIEW: Dale Carnegie's "How To Stop Worrying and Start Living"



INTRODUCTION

In the early days, Dale Carnegie (November 24, 1888 November 1, 1955) made his living by teaching
adult classes in night schools in New York. He realized that one of the biggest problems of these adults
was worry. He wrote his book by reading what the philosophers of all ages have said about worry. He
also read hundreds of biographies, all the way from Confucius to Churchill. According to him, we wont
find anything new in his book, but we will find much that is not generally being applied in our daily life.

THE CONTENTS

Carnegie wrote his book into eight parts. Let us go through all them and for purpose of this article, I will
share one story each taken from each Part.

PART I: Fundamental facts you should know about worry

For this story, it was given the sub-title as Live in a day-tight compartment. Just live each day until
bedtime.

It was about a housewife in Michigan who had lost her husband due to illness. She was very depressed
and was almost penniless. She then wrote to her former employer and got her job back by selling World
Books to rural and town school boards. She thought that by getting back on the road would help relieve
her depression; but driving alone and eating alone was almost more that she could take. She found out
that the schools were poor and the roads were bad. It seemed that success was impossible.

Then one day she read an article that lifted her spirit as well as giving her the courage to go on living.
There was an inspiring sentence which said: Every day is a new life to a wise man. She typed it out and
pasted it on her cars windscreen where she could see it every minute while driving. Since then, she said
to herself, Today is a new life.

She had succeeded in overcoming her fear of loneliness, and her fear of want. She was happy and fairly
successful then and had a lot of enthusiasm and love for life. She knew then that she could live one day
at a time.

PART II: Basic Techniques in Analyzing Worry

This was about an insurance man. When he first started selling insurance, he was filled with a boundless
enthusiasm and love for his work. Then something happened. He became so discouraged that he
despised his work and thought of giving it up. Then on one Saturday morning, he sat down and tried to
get at the root of his worries. He began asking himself following questions:

- What was the problem?

He was not getting high enough returns for the staggering amount of telephone calls that he made.

- What was the cause of the problem?

He did pretty well at selling a prospect, until the moment came for closing a sale. Then the customer
would say, Well, Ill think it over, Mister. Come and see me again. The time wasted on these follow-up
calls that were causing his depression.

- What were all possible solutions?

He checked his record book for the last twelve months and studied the figures carefully. He made an
astounding discovery! He discovered that 70% of his sales had been closed at the very first interview!
Another 23% of his sales had been closed on the second interview. And another 7% had been closed on
those third, fourth, fifth, etc., interviews. He came to the conclusion that he was wasting fully one half of
his working day on a part of his business which was responsible for only seven per cent of his sales!

- What was the best solution?

He made a quick decision that he would immediately cut all visits beyond the second interview, and
spent the extra time building up new prospects.
PART III: How to Break the Worry Habit Before it Breaks You

This part of the book asked us to use the Law of Averages to outlaw our worries.

During one summer, a couple went for a camping trip in Touquin Valley of the Canadian Rockies, about
seven thousand feet above sea level. One night, a storm threatened to tear their tent to shreds. The
outer tent shook and trembled and screamed and shrieked in the wind. The wife was terrified, and
expecting every minute to see their tent torn loose and hurled through the sky.

However, her husband kept saying: Look, my dear, we are traveling with Brewsters guides. They know
what they are doing. They have been pitching tents in these mountains for sixty years. This tent has
been here for many seasons. It hasnt blown down yet and, by the law of averages, it wont blow away
tonight; and even it does, we can take shelter in another tent. So relax .. The wife did; and she slept
soundly the balance of the night.

We should ask ourselves: What are the chances, according to the law of averages, that a particular
event we are worrying about will ever happen?

PART IV: Ways to Cultivate a Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace and Happiness

We need to understand this important Rule: Instead of worrying about ingratitude, let expect it.

A businessman in Texas felt bitter for his thirty-four employees did not say Thank You to him after
receiving a bonus of about $300 each for Christmas.

According to Carnegie, instead of wallowing in resentment and self-pity, that man might have asked
himself why he didnt get any appreciation. Maybe he underpaid and overworked his employees.
Maybe they considered a Christmas bonus not a gift, but something they had earned. Maybe he was so
critical and unapproachable that no one dared or cared to thank him. Maybe they felt that he gave the
bonus because most of the profits were going for taxes, anyway.

On the other hand, maybe the employees were selfish, mean, and ill-mannered. May be this or may be
that. According to Carnegie, this man made the human and distressing mistake of expecting gratitude.
He just didnt know human nature.

PART V: The Perfect Way to Conquer Worry

Carnegie wrote in his book that one day when his father returned from Maryville, where the banker had
threatened to foreclose the mortgage, he stopped his horses on a bridge crossing a river, got off the
wagon, and stood for a long time looking down at the water, debating with himself whether he should
jump in and end it all.

Years later, Carnegie Sr. told him that the only reason he didnt jump was because of his mothers deep,
abiding, and joyous belief that if we loved God and kept His commandments everything would come out
all right. Mother was right. Everything did come out all right in the end. Father lived forty-two happy
years longer, and died in 1941, at the age of eighty-nine.

PART VI: How to Keep From Worrying About Criticism

A national sensation in educational circles was created due to an event which occurred in 1929. Learned
men and women from all Americas rushed to Chicago to witness the affair. A few years earlier, a young
man by the name of Robert Hutchins had worked his way through Yale, acting as a waiter, a lumberjack,
a tutor, and a clothesline salesman. Now, only eight years later, he was being inaugurated as president
of the fourth richest university in America, the University of Chicago. He was only thirty years old.
Incredible! Criticism came roaring down upon this boy wonder like a rockslide. Even the newspapers
joined in the attack.

The day he was inaugurated, a friend said to the father of Robert Maynard Hutchins, I was shocked this
morning to read that newspaper editorial denouncing your son.

Yes, the elder Hutchins replied, it was severe, but we need to remember that no one ever kicks a
dead dog.

Yes, and the more important a dog is, the more satisfaction people get in kicking him or her.

Carnegie added that when you are kicked or criticised, remember that it is often done because it gives
the kicker a feeling of importance. It often means that you are accomplishing something and are worthy
of attention. Many people get a sense of savage satisfaction out of denouncing those who are better
educated than they are or more successful.

PART VII: 6 Ways to Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High

Dale Carnegie listed down the following six ways in his book:

Rest before you get tired; Learn to relax at your work; Learn to relax at home; Apply good working
habits (clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand; do things
in the order of their importance; when you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts
necessary to make a decision; and learn to organize, deputize, and supervise); To prevent worry and
fatigue, put enthusiasm into your work; and Remember that no one was ever killed by lack of sleep. It is
worrying about insomnia that does the damage not the insomnia itself. If you cant sleep, get up and
work or read until you do feel sleepy.

PART VIII: How I Conquered Worry

In this last part of the book, Carnegie wrote down 31 true stories. In this review, I would choose one
story, entitled I Lived in the Garden of Allah. It was about an English gentleman from a rich family in
Britain. After leaving the British Army in the early of 20th Century, he went to northwest Africa and lived
with the Arabs in the Sahara, the Garden of Allah.

He lived there for seven (7) years, learned to speak the language of the nomads, wore their clothes, ate
their food and adopted their way of life, which has changed very little during the last several centuries.
He also made a detailed study of the religion, Islam, and in fact he later wrote a book about Prophet
Muhammad, peace be upon him, entitled The Messenger.

He observed that the nomads take life so calmly and never hurry or get into unnecessary tempers when
things go wrong. They know that what is ordained is ordained; and no one but Allah can alter anything.
However, that doesnt mean that in the face of disaster, they sit down and do nothing. This is illustrated
as below.

One day there was a fierce, burning windstorm of the sirocco in the Sahara. It howled and screamed for
three days and nights. It was so strong, so fierce, that it blew sand from the Sahara hundreds of miles
across the Mediterranean and sprinkled it over the Rhone Valley in France. But the Arabs didnt
complain. They shrugged their shoulders and said, Mektoub! which means It was written.
But immediately after the storm was over, they sprang into action, they slaughtered all the lambs
because they knew they would die anyway. After the lambs were slaughtered, the flocks were driven
southward to water. This was all done calmly, without worry or complaining or mourning over their
losses. The tribal chief said: It was not too bad. We might have lost everything. But praise to Allah, we
have forty percent of our sheep left to make a new start.

Several years after leaving the Sahara he still maintain that happy resignation to the inevitable which
he had learned from the Arabs. That philosophy has done more to settle his nerves than a thousand
sedatives could have achieved.

CONCLUSION

In our day-to-day life, in fighting worry, I believe in the principle of Worry less about what others think,
say and do.