I’m not really the type of person who will read self-help books intending to actually make changes to my life.
I understand I don’t have a perfect life, and I’m fully aware that there are ways I could improve as a person. I just don’t know why I should listen to any particular author over another.
Anybody off the street, as long as they find a publisher or are willing to self-publish, can write and distribute a book to the public.
When I choose to read self-help books, I’m mostly wanting to see what other people are saying about topics that I care about. Mental health is one of these topics.
At only 140 pages, You Can Be Happy No Matter What is a fairly short book. Even so, I found it to be fairly repetitive.
The basic idea is that the default emotion for humans is a sense of contentment and happiness. We only start moving away from that feeling of contentment as we let our thoughts control our moods, feelings, and emotions.
Carlson states that stress doesn’t exist outside of our head, and if we simply let these thoughts come and go without entertaining them, we can remain content and happy.
He also mentions that reality is different for everybody, based on their history, experiences, and thoughts. Knowing this, there is really no point in allowing somebody else’s words or actions to bring us down.
And that’s pretty much what you’ll get from the book.
If that sounds like something you want to read about in various, slightly modified ways throughout an entire book, then this would be a good book for you to look into. It’s not bad content. I would probably just prefer a 15 minute TED Talk version, myself.
Denver Nay Blogs 