This isn’t my usual post but is totally necessary and it would be rude not to share. A review of a book that I can guarantee everyone can relate to and implement at least one thing about how you live your life. Richard Carlson’ – “Don’t sweat the small stuff”.
All throughout my life I have been a ridiculous over-thinker and it’s safe to say it really isn’t good for you, it stops you from doing a lot. When I first moved back to university for second year it was a tough time for me. I have a family member that I am extremely close to and blessed to say I can talk to him about all my worries, he lent me this book and I have him to thank.
The book does exactly what the title states, it teaches you to not sweat the small stuff. It is a collection of 100 chapters, if you can even call them chapters, they are short one or two pages of habits that most of us fall into and shows you how fixing them would lead to a lot happier life.
Reading isn’t for everyone and I get that, however this isn’t a book that requires you to take an hour or more out of your day to sit and read, you can dip in and out of reading sections that seem interesting to you or perhaps something you do a lot.
For example, I started with the section ‘Be aware of the snowball effect of your thinking’ because I know it’s something I suffer with. A lot of the techniques don’t come naturally, and they do take practice, but I most certainly have felt a difference. A large proportion of these ideas are based around recognising how you react to certain situations, such as why do we scream and swear when someone cuts in front of us, then proceed to rant about it all day, whilst the person who did it continues living you have affected your own peace, let it go and remember what it feels like to be in a rush for something because we have all been there.
We get in our own way more than we care to recognise; we also add unprovoked unnecessary stress to our lives that limit our own potential. It’s like the act of hating someone for a long time, most of the time we have actually forgotten the reason we dislike the person so much, but we carry round this hatred that takes an enormous amount of energy that could be exerted elsewhere. So many of us are narrow-minded when it comes to self-improvement, we don’t like to critique ourselves or admit that the habits we form are silly and limiting, this book has actually been quite essential for me this year I have learnt a tremendous amount from it and continue to practice controlling my reactions and thought processes. We fall into criticising others so much and rarely take a moment to recognise our own flaws – make working on your own behaviour a priority and be kinder in the way you perceive others. I really could talk about this book for hours, it touches on so many relevant daily struggles, I can’t do it justice, it is a must buy!