"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and its all Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson, Phd (Book Review!)

Soooooooo guys!! Hope we had an amazing week...and if you did not, be encouraged, be happy, today is a brand new day to make things happen and just be thankful for the gift of life (in short, you go dey alright). Hopefully as you read more, you'll find reason to be a little bit more encouraged.

This past week, I read an amazing book by Richard Carlson, PhD called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and its all Small Stuff"!! (okay, I'm a little too excited, can you tell?). Well, maybe that's because I learned so so much from it. Honestly, this book is packed and loaded with amazing truth and lessons.(I am currently attempting to read at least a book each month for the year 2018 and if I can surpass that goal, then that's great. I'm also seeking to encourage and help others fall in love with reading a book or "find the time" to get at least a few pages in a day. I'm learning that there's always time to do the things we really want to do, so if you have the strong desire to finish a book, but "don't have the time", perhaps, you're spending your time on the wrong things...remember HVAs and LVAs?It's amazing the things you find between two book covers.)

For me, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and its all Small Stuff" was literally unputdownable (yup, that's a word) and I found that I finished it in just a couple of days. I know that I got quite a number of questions about the book when I posted excerpts on my Instagram story and people wanted to know more about it. I also had a discussion with one of my closest friends about some of the things I learned from it. My colleague then suggested I do short book review (or my version of what that is, really) so I'll be sharing some of the things I learned from it and how applicable they were to me.

Simple and straightforward but very profound and deep, the book was written by Richard Carlson, PhD (who is late now. He died in 2006 at 45). It simply explains 100 principles and ways not to sweat the small stuff in life and prevent the simple things from taking over your life. Don't be scared, each principle is explained in a page or two. He writes on principles such as Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Make Peace with Imperfection, Let Go of the Idea that Gentle, Relaxed People Can't be Superachievers, Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking, Develop Your Compassion, Remind Yourself that When You Die, Your "In Basket" Won't Be Empty, Don't Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences, Do Something Nice for Someone Else - and Don't Tell Anyone About It, Let Others Have the Glory, Learn to Live in the Present Moment and so on.

Clearly I can't share on the hundred in just one post so I'll briefly share on the first 7 that stood out to me.

Sometimes, in life we're so caught up trying to get things done, rushing here and there, having mini panic attacks about things we're yet to do, trying to meet deadline after deadline at work or with kids, dealing with issues from family members, friends and acquaintances, making decisions or just trying to get things right in life generally and we get so so worked up, get so anxious, burst into tears occasionally (if you're as dramatic as I am. LOL) or find ourselves frazzled "upandan" and ...basically all he's saying is chillllll!

Here are the 7 simple ways I really connected to:

1. Choose Being Kind Over Being Right; I learned so much from this one because I have the tendency to try to express my views in an imposing way. We all think we are right most of the time, but I've learned that sometimes even though I think I might be right it's better to just be kind and agree with someone or even try to see their point of view first rather than trying to make sure its understood I'm right.

2. Choose Your Battles Wisely; The day I read this, an uber guy spoke to me rudely and made some "anyhow" comments. LOL. I wanted to annihilate him!Lol, strong word I know. But I just smiled and let it go. I wasn't going to allow anyone steal my joy and I just learned that its not everything you argue about and its not every point that has to be made. Some things, you just let go of. Not every battle you engage in, basically. People would definitely get on your nerves once in a while but you cannot react to everyone and everything, that would just be so draining.

3. Learn to live in the present moment; because we're sooooo busy looking forward to the future and making future plans and running up and down trying to get things done to secure our future or the future of our family or children that sometimes we just forget to chill, and breathe in the fresh air and just enjoy the beauty around us. There is so much beauty and joy in every present moment. Life is just one moment after the other like he says in the book. There'll always be something to look forward to but I'm learning to just enjoy the present moment in life.

4. Make peace with imperfection; because even life isn't perfect(and I'm talking mostly to the OCD grumps out there!). Not everyone can be as tidy as you or as coordinated as you or as nice, or as giving or as calculated. We all have our imperfections and we just have to learn to embrace same.

5. Don't Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences; LOOOOOOOL! I related to this one the most! I literally laugh at myself anytime I remember this because I do this ALOT!!!!! Lately, I've been learning to just let the other person finish talking and see where they're coming from and not jumping on sentences like a horse or something. If someone is talking and you want to make a point off what they've said but you're scared you might forget you can just write it down or on note it on your phone or something. This doesn't mean you don't contribute to a conversation, not just interrupt.

6. Become aware of your moods and Don't allow yourself to be fooled by the low ones;  If you're someone like me who tends to have extreme moods (when you're happy, you're extremely happy and when you're sad, its like you want to fall in a gutter and drown) then you'll learn alot from this. Sometimes I get moody and might not know why I'm in that mood or why I might not be in the mood to be chirpy but whatever the mood, I'm learning to remind myself "this too shall pass" and I'm also learning to be "grateful during the highs and graceful during the lows".

7. Lighten Up!; well because life is beautiful and you don't have to take things too seriously or like every one is going to die in the next five minutes. Life is not an emergency so take one step at a time and put a smile on your face as often as you can. I've learned that with just a simple smile, you don't know whose day you can make or who you can encourage with your smile.

I really recommend this book to be placed on your bedside or within reach so you can grab it and refer to any portion at any time. Oh, and because I'm the best I've found a PDF that you can download here (but if you're old fashioned like me, head into a bookstore and grab a copy!).

You're very welcome. LOL

Have a great Saturday guys!

And when you read, be sure to share with us what you learned from it!